Chairman of the Syrian National Coordination Commission (NCC) Hassan Abdul Azim has called on all non-Syrian parties involved in fighting in Syrian territory to withdraw, regardless of which side they are fighting.
Speaking at a press conference in Damascus on Thursday, Abdul Azim said the NCC will try to gain a condemnation from the United Nations on the participation of foreign fighters.
In a separate statement to pro-government newspaper al-Watan, Abdul Azim said he believes the Syrian National Coalition will not be able to refuse participation in Geneva 2 talks, given its international and regional sponsors have agreed on holding the conference.
"The Coalition cannot refuse Geneva 2 because it depends on the external Arab and western states, besides the United States, and these parties have agreed on holding the conference without pre-conditions," he said.
"This means Syrians themselves, either from the regime or the opposition sides, will negotiate and through these negotiations they will decide the destiny of the regime and the president," he said.
Abdul Azim also clarified that Washington had pressed the Coalition to attend the conference. He also reiterated that a transitional government with full authority is the central demand of the opposition and that Russia had agreed to this as a means to solve the crisis and move the country to a new regime.
"A transitional government without full authority cannot solve the crisis," he said.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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