Opposition group walks out on Syria conference

Published Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The pro-militant Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) have pulled out of an opposition conference in Cairo, citing political "disputes," a statement said on Tuesday.
The two-day conference opened on Monday in the Egyptian capital, under the auspices of the Arab League, to forge a common vision for a transition in the country after a blueprint was adopted by world powers on the weekend.
The SRGC said it refuses to "engage in political disputes, which play with the fate of our people and our revolution" or accept "agendas which place the revolution between the anvil and the hammer of international conflicts and the criminal Syrian regime."
The group also criticized world powers who agreed at a meeting Saturday in Geneva on a transitional plan for violence-hit Syria, in compromise with Russia and China, key allies of the Damascus regime.
"Talking about unifying the opposition is hollow speech aimed at covering up for the failure of the Geneva meeting," the SRGC said in its statement, also accusing the Syrian regime of committing more massacres in the country.
"The priority now is to continue to strengthen unity among the Syrian revolutionary forces, mainly the Free Syrian Army inside the country, and to secure support for this (military) option by all means," it added.
"This alone assures blessed victory for the revolution and can change the domestic and international equation," it said.
The Free Syrian Army is boycotting the conference and has described the Cairo meeting as a "conspiracy."
The SRGC was formed in August 2011 – five months after the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule – by some 44 opposition groups committed to focus on toppling the regime.
The SRGC is one of the more hardline umbrella groups, pushing for the militarization of the revolution and rejecting any compromise solutions brought forward by world powers.
Syria's opposition has been fractured since the uprising began, largely between various umbrella groups that differ on the approach to the crisis.
The Istanbul-based Syrian National Council (SNC) – the largest of the opposition blocs – is heavily influenced by the exiled Muslim Brotherhood, and has established close ties to Gulf dictatorships Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The SNC has attempted to centralize the rebel military command under its control, but has been met with stiff resistance from internal armed groups who refuse to recognize its authority.
The Damascus-based National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB) remains opposed to the militarization of the revolution, and staunchly rejects foreign interference, but blames the regime for pushing Syria to the brink of civil war.
Despite the blocs, including the armed rebels, agreeing on the removal of Assad, all are competing for greater control of the uprising.

Russia, China shift important: Annan
The "shift" in the positions of Russia and China on Syria should not be underestimated, the spokesman for peace envoy Kofi Annan said on Tuesday after international talks in Geneva.
"Many forces have joined hands here on Saturday ... don't underestimate the shift particularly from Russian and China," Ahmad Fawzi said.
Fawzi said reports out of Beijing and Moscow had been "very supportive" of the agreement made at the meeting.
"Let's wait until the dust settles on this agreement and I think everyone will see that it was quite an accomplishment that was achieved here on Saturday," said Fawzi.
This accomplishment included an agreement in principle on a political transition, he said, but a complete halt to the violence is vital first.
"It's imperative that we get a ceasefire," Fawzi.
The spokesman also said exiting the crisis in Syria would not be without its troubles despite agreement at the ministerial meeting.
"It's going to be a long, bumpy road," said Ahmad Fawzi, "but we believe that commitments made in Geneva were genuine and if applied as promised will have an effect."
(Al-Akhbar, AFP)

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