Riyadh-based Syrians must decide on peace delegation

A Riyadh-based Syrian opposition group must control delegates to planned peace talks with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.
The comments by Adel al-Jubeir came after the United Nations on Monday said it was waiting for regional powers leading the Syria peace process to agree on participants for the negotiations.

Talks are planned to start in Geneva next Monday.

The High Committee formed after an unprecedented meeting last December in the Saudi capital "is the concerned body, and nobody else can impose on them who should represent them" in negotiations with Assad's regime, Jubeir said at a joint news conference with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

The 17 countries pushing for a peace deal for war-ravaged Syria, including the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have struggled to agree on the list of opposition delegates.

Russia and Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival, are the main supporters of Assad. Moscow wants participation by the moderate opposition that is closer to the president.

After months of effort, Riyadh in December succeeded in bringing together about 100 representatives of the main Syrian political opposition and armed factions.

They agreed to negotiate with the regime but insisted Assad step down at the start of any political transition.

The Islamic State jihadist group, which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front were excluded from the Riyadh meeting.

Kurdish fighters were also left out.

A recently formed secular Kurdish-Arab alliance, the Syrian Democratic Council, demanded last week that it get its own seat at the talks.

SDC leader Haytham Mannaa said he would not want to be grouped with the Riyadh body.

The Riyadh gathering came after diplomats from the 17 countries agreed in Vienna on a roadmap for Syria, with peace talks, a transitional government and then elections.

Fabius said "the success of the conference in Riyadh should be respected".

After meeting King Salman, he also called for a "de-escalation" of tensions in the region, where relations between Riyadh and Tehran reached a new low this month.

Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after protesters burned Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran following the kingdom's January 2 execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is to visit Paris next week, Fabius said, after arriving in Saudi Arabia from Abu Dhabi where he attended the World Future Energy Summit on Monday.

His visit came in the context of "close and continuous dialogue" between Paris and Riyadh, a French statement said.

France is the third-largest investor in Saudi Arabia, and has boosted ties with the conservative Islamic kingdom despite persistent criticism from rights activists of its record on civil liberties.

Source :AFP