Peace conference on Syria, challenges yet to begin

The meeting aims to examine the establishment of a transitional government to end a three-year long civil war in the country.

The Syrian delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem. It will include Deputy Prime Minister Faisal al-Moqdad, Presidential Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban, and Syrian ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari.

Ahmad Jarba, President of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), will represent the opposition at the conference. 10 delegates representing ethnic groups in Syria and representatives of more than 40 countries and international organizations will attend the meeting.

The conference will begin with a foreign ministers’ meeting chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and official negotiations will take place two days later.

Conflicting viewpoints

Although the SNC said it will attend the conference after the UN withdrew the invitation to Iran, the key ally of President al-Assad’s government, it has continued to release unconstructive statements. An SNC representative even said the purpose of attending the conference is to topple President al-Assad. Other opposition groups in Syria, meanwhile, said they will not send their representatives to the conference, describing it as a tool of deception.

The Syrian government said it will not meet the opposition’s demand for President al-Assad to step down. Foreign Minister al-Muallem insisted those demanding President al-Assad’s resignation should give up their dream.

President al-Assad said he will seek a new term in the June election, calling on the peace conference to focus on the war on terror with the real aim of cutting support for armed terrorist groups in Syria. This will be an important part of any political solution to the Syrian crisis.

There are also differences within the SNC. After the SNC announced it will attend the peace conference, the Syrian National Council, the biggest opposition group in Syria, said it will withdraw from the SNC to protest this conference. The council said that taking part in this conference would forsake the commitment of not joining any negotiation until President al-Assad resigns.

Iran pushed aside

The UN’s withdrawal of its invitation to Iran in the last minute is believed to have produced new confusion. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier criticized the Syrian opposition’s lack of goodwill toward Iran participating in the conference.

The Russian diplomat said that if Iran did not attend the conference, the plenary session would be a joke. He said that if the Syrian government agreed to negotiate without any pre-condition, countries providing financial support and weapons for opposition forces in Syria should do the same.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said China supports efforts by other regional countries to seek a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

The UN’s withdrawal of its invitation to Iran will certainly provoke reactions from Russia and China and make it more difficult to resolve the Syrian issue. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the Geneva II conference as a vehicle for a peaceful transition. But what’s happening seems contrary to his expectation.

More than a year after the conflict in Syria broke out (March 2011), both Moscow and Washington agreed that only a political solution could break the political stalemate there.

At a Geneva meeting in June 2012, leaders from Russia, the US, and other major world powers reached an agreement on a political transition process in Syria, known as the Geneva Communiqué on Syria.

Although parties have tried to implement the Communiqué, their efforts have been in vain due to questions about President al-Assad’s role during and after the transitional period.