Saudi sees Syria progress – No role for Assad in ‘future’

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CAIRO, Oct 25, (Agencies): Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister insisted on Sunday that Syrian leader Bashar al- Assad should have no role in Syria’s “future,” adding there had been some progress in international talks on resolving the conflict.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the comments after meeting his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, and a day after Saudi Arabia and the United States called for more international efforts to restore stability in Syria without Assad.

“There are ongoing international consultations on implementing the Geneva 1 proposal,” Jubeir told a news conference, referring to a 2012 initiative for a transitional Syrian government. “I think there has been some progress so far and positions are coming closer … but I can’t say we’ve reached an agreement and there needs to be more consultations,” he said.

Jubeir, whose country supports anti-Assad rebels while opposing Iranian and Russian military intervention on his behalf, said “most countries” shared the kingdom’s views on solving the four-year-conflict. “We are committed to implementing the principles of Geneva to establish a transitional authority that installs a constitution and directs the government and military ahead of elections,” he said. “And Bashar al-Assad will have no role in Syria’s future. That is the position of the kingdom and that is the position of most countries in the world,” he said. US Secretary of State John Kerry and King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Saturday called for greater international efforts to restore stability to Syria without Assad at its helm.

The Saudi talks follow a meeting Friday in Vienna between Kerry and the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on ways to end the Syria conflict. But the Vienna talks failed to make any breakthrough and Kerry said at the time he hoped to reconvene another “broader” meeting on Syria as early as Oct 30. Russia and the West have been at loggerheads over Assad’s fate, a major sticking point in efforts to solve a crisis that has killed more than 250,000 people since 2011 and sparked an exodus of around four million refugees. Seeking to shake off months of Western isolation over the Ukraine conflict, Putin last month launched air strikes in Syria and has since held talks with the war’s key regional players, including some of Assad’s worst enemies, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the Syria crisis during a phone conversation on Sunday requested by the United States, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that Lavrov and Kerry had continued their discussions on the prospects for a political resolution of the Syria crisis with the involvement of the Syrian authorities and “patriotic opposition”, supported by the international community. Meanwhile, the United States and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase support to Syria’s moderate opposition while seeking a political resolution of the four-year conflict, the US State Department said after Secretary of State John Kerry met King Salman on Saturday.

Kerry was in Riyadh for meetings with the Saudi monarch, crown prince, deputy crown prince and foreign minister — the last stop in a trip that also included Vienna, where he met counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia. “They pledged to continue and intensify support to the moderate Syrian opposition while the political track is being pursued,” the State Department statement said after Kerry’s meetings in Saudi Arabia. It did not spell out what kind of support would be offered. Rebels have appealed for more military support from foreign backers, including Saudi Arabia, to confront major Syrian army offensives. Those offensives are backed by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters and Russian air strikes. The United States and Saudi Arabia, together with other states opposed to Assad, already provides some military support to Syrian rebels. That includes training by the Central Intelligence Agency and anti-tank missiles. Kerry said in Vienna on Friday he expected new talks on Syria to begin as soon as next week. So far, all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have foundered over the demand by the United States and its allies that Assad leave power, which he refuses to consider.

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