Opposition sources have revealed there is pressure on the Syrian National Coalition to expand its negotiating delegation in the second round of Geneva talks, scheduled for next week.
Demands include greater representation from the armed and political forces which did not participate in the first round.
A member of the political commission of the Coalition, Fayez Sarah said on Monday that there are “rightful demands from inside the Coalition and outside it to expand the negotiating delegation.”
The leader in the Syrian National Council, an important faction within the Coaltiion, Abdulrahman al-Haj explained that "there is international pressure to expand the delegation", and that "the Coalition is worried about the process because it may lead to the formation of a weak delegation".
The political commission is to hold a meeting either in Geneva or in Istanbul, after the Coaltion President Ahmad Jarba returns from Moscow and before the launch of the second round of negotiations, if government's delegation decides to attend.
The American State Department announced after the meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry, Sergei Lavrov, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Munich two days ago that talks concentrated on "the expansion of opposition's delegation in Geneva II negotiations".
Opposition sources said that there are suggestions to include representatives of the “internal opposition”, the National Coordination Commission and the armed opposition of the Islamic Front in the opposition delegation.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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