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Syria conflict: Ahrar al-Sham quits opposition unity talks Syria conflict: Opposition agrees framework for peace talks
(about 1 hour later)
A powerful Syrian rebel group has pulled out of talks with opposition politicians aimed at forming a unified front ahead of possible peace talks. A meeting of Syrian opposition politicians and rebels in Riyadh has produced a statement of principles to guide peace talks with the government.
Ahrar al-Sham cited the "main role" that Syria-based opposition figures had been given in a proposed leadership group. The statement calls for the creation of "a pluralistic regime that represents all sectors of the Syrian people", according to the Reuters news agency.
It also said "revolutionary groups" were inadequately represented. It also stresses that President Bashar al-Assad and his aides can play no part in any transitional period.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had earlier said the talks in Riyadh were "making progress". Earlier, the powerful rebel group Ahrar al-Sham withdrew from the conference.
It complained that figures it regarded as too close to the government were being given too prominent a role.
World powers want negotiations between a unified opposition delegation and President Bashar al-Assad's government on a political solution to the four-and-a-half-year conflict to start by 1 January.World powers want negotiations between a unified opposition delegation and President Bashar al-Assad's government on a political solution to the four-and-a-half-year conflict to start by 1 January.
'Negotiating team' 'Unified vision'
The two-day conference in the Saudi capital brought together representatives of the National Coalition - the main Western-backed political opposition alliance - and the National Co-ordination Committee, which is tolerated by Mr Assad though its members in Syria have been harassed and detained. The two-day conference in the Saudi capital brought together representatives of the main Western-backed political opposition alliance, the National Coalition, and of the National Co-ordination Committee, which is tolerated by the authorities in Damascus though its members have been harassed and detained.
Most of the main rebel factions, including Ahrar al-Sham, also sent delegations.Most of the main rebel factions, including Ahrar al-Sham, also sent delegations.
On Thursday morning, delegates were reported to have reaffirmed that the president and his associates could play no part in any transitional period. On Thursday afternoon, Suhair al-Atassi of the National Coalition told the AFP news agency that delegates had agreed a framework for negotiations.
There was also said to be broad agreement on keeping Syria united, establishing a democratic state, and on forcing foreign fighters to leave the country. "An agreement has been reached on... a unified vision for the settlement process and a supreme committee that would act as a reference for the negotiating team, the composition of which will be specified later," she said.
Monzer Akbik, a member of the National Coalition, told the Reuters news agency that delegates had decided to set up a 25-strong leadership group - six from the National Coalition, six from rebel factions, five from the National Co-ordination Committee, and eight independent figures. Reuters quoted a joint statement as saying that delegates had backed a "democratic mechanism through a pluralistic regime that represents all sectors of the Syrian people". It would include women and would not discriminate on religious, sectarian or ethic grounds, the statement added.
A separate negotiating team with 15 members would also be appointed, he added. Delegates also committed to preserving state institutions and restructuring the security forces, but they insisted Mr Assad would have to leave power immediately.
"The meeting in Saudi Arabia appears to be very constructive at this point and we need to wait for the results of that conference," Mr Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of a global climate conference outside Paris. Earlier, Ahrar al-Sham said it had withdrawn from the conference because of the "main role" accorded to "personalities linked to the regime" - an apparent reference to members of the National Co-ordination Committee - and the inadequate representation of "revolutionary groups".
"I think everybody is moving in the direction that they want to rapidly get to a political process and get it under way under UN auspices. So we made progress but we have some tough issues to get over."
Mr Kerry said members of the new International Syrian Support Group - which includes the Arab League, the European Union, the United Nations, and 17 countries - were "working toward the potential of a meeting in New York" on 18 December, but cautioned that it was "not locked in yet".
But hours after he spoke, Ahrar al-Sham said it had withdrawn from the Riyadh conference because of the "main role" given to "personalities linked to the regime", an apparent reference to members of the National Co-ordination Committee.
It also criticised the failure to "confirm the Muslim identity of our people".It also criticised the failure to "confirm the Muslim identity of our people".
Ahrar al-Sham is a ultraconservative Islamist, or Salafist, rebel group that aims to topple Mr Assad and build an Islamic state, though it vows to achieve the latter through the ballot box and not force. It is part of Jaysh al-Fatah, an alliance that includes the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front. Ahrar al-Sham is an ultraconservative Islamist, or Salafist, rebel group that aims to topple Mr Assad and build an Islamic state, though it vows to achieve the latter through the ballot box and not force. It is part of Jaysh al-Fatah, an alliance that includes the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile said that the new International Syrian Support Group - which includes the Arab League, the EU, the UN and 17 countries - was "working toward the potential of a meeting in New York" on 18 December.
"I think everybody is moving in the direction that they want to rapidly get to a political process and get it under way under UN auspices," he told reporters on the sidelines of a climate summit in Paris.
The Syrian Kurds, who control large parts of northern Syria, were not invited to Riyadh. They held their own conference, at the same time, on the future of Syria.
In a separate development on Thursday, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), which controls large parts of northern and eastern Syria, reportedly recaptured the Mahin and Hawarin areas of Homs province that it lost to government forces last month.In a separate development on Thursday, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), which controls large parts of northern and eastern Syria, reportedly recaptured the Mahin and Hawarin areas of Homs province that it lost to government forces last month.