Tolerated Syria Opposition Criticises Regime Geneva Document

Syria's tolerated domestic opposition on Wednesday criticized a document presented by the regime at peace talks in Geneva, saying it failed to address the issue of political transition.

Syria's government delegation to the talks has presented a statement of principles, calling for Syria's sovereignty to be respected, rejecting "foreign interference" and "terrorism."

But the opposition delegation at the conference rejected the document because it made no mention of a transition of power.

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus on Wednesday, the tolerated opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change also rejected discussion of the statement of principles.

"The principles advanced by the Syrian regime delegation are general principles accepted by the majority of the Syrian people, but are not for (discussion at) Geneva," NCCDC member Ahmed Esraoui said.

The goal of Geneva II is "the application of the decisions taken at Geneva I and therefore the discussion of the question of a transitional government with full powers," he added.

The current round of talks is based on the Geneva communique reached in June 2012, which called for a political transition in Syria without making mention of President Bashar Assad's future.

The tolerated opposition is not part of the opposition National Coalition body that is negotiating with the regime at Geneva, and refused to take part in the talks under the Coalition's umbrella.

In a statement handed out at the press conference, the NCCDC criticized its absence from the talks.

"This absence will lead to the failure of the Geneva conference... which would reflect negatively on the entire world and could mean the loss of this historic chance to save the country," the statement said.