Syria Opposition Says No Peace Talks until Hizbullah, Iran Halt 'Invasion'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syria's main opposition group said Thursday it will not take part in proposed U.S.-Russia peace talks while key allies of President Bashar Assad's regime are waging war alongside government forces.
"The National Coalition will not take part in any international conference or any such efforts so long as the militias of Iran and Hizbullah continue their invasion of Syria," the opposition's acting chief George Sabra told reporters in Istanbul.
"Today, Syrians' lives are more important than any political solution or any international conference," Sabra added.
It has taken the divided opposition meeting in Istanbul a week to find common ground on the so-called Geneva 2 peace conference proposed by Moscow and Washington in hopes of ending more than two years of conflict estimated to have killed more than 94,000 people.
The group has previously said it was open in principle to any peace initiatives.
Sabra's comments follow Syrian army advances in areas where Hizbullah has joined troops loyal to Assad.
"In light of this savagery, any talk of an international conference or a political solution in Syria is just meaningless chatter," he said.
His statement came hours after the National Coalition launched an urgent appeal to rescue 1,000 wounded civilians from the town of Qusayr in central Syria.
Government troops and Hizbullah fighters have been battling for more than a week to retake Qusayr from rebel hands.
Rebel sources say the army has also made new advances east of Damascus in the past week, in a bid to crush the rebellion there.
Sabra said it was in the hands of the international community, "especially in the hands of (rebel backers) the Friends of Syria", to help stop an army advance on Qusayr and the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus.
He called on the United Nations and the Arab League to "act immediately and seriously to stop... the continuous massacres".
"We cannot understand or accept that people are being killed in such a savage way while the international community is silent," Sabra added.
The Coalition's chief meanwhile reiterated a call to President Michel Suleiman to stop Hizbullah from aiding Assad's troops.
"We remind the Lebanese president and the Lebanese people that a party with government and parliament representation is taking part in this ugly crime," said Sabra.
30 May 2013, 17:24
51
this statement in itself is going to be the tipping point for the destruction of hizbusshaitan.
now it is clear it is imperative to act against hizbushaitan especially after the latest developments we are noticing:
- Obama call to Suleiman in this respect.
- EU placing Hizbushaitan on terror list (or about to do it)
- GCC placing hizbushaitan on terror list.
the set is now ready for the annihilation of hizbushaitan.
better brace yourselves Lebanese: this time round is going to be different: too many countries will be involved in the eradication of hizbushaitan.
30 May 2013, 17:45
52
mowaten: you can be funny :)
live your dream while you still can, nevertheless, the stage is now totally set: the destruction of hizbushaitan is imminent, and do remember that this time round, shia will not find any support from the Lebanese people, and they cannot go to Syria, so explain to me where will they hide?
30 May 2013, 20:57
21
"after the imminent fall of assad you've promised a thousand times in the last two years"
well you M8ers predicted the fall of the rebels for the next tuesday! LOL that it was not a revolution but little skirmishes...
30 May 2013, 17:41
81
stupid comment mwaten :)
finish off the rebels?
qusayr is just a small village of less than 50k and it is taking the Syrian regime/iran/hizbushaitan/chemical weapons/... so much time to take it.....
Qusayr is not the end: it is the real beginning.
30 May 2013, 15:57
63
And in the meantime, the syrian people are used anyways to living under one of the most repressive and criminal regimes in the world. But yalla - who cares. The revolution is not over and never underestimate the tenacity of the syrian people.
30 May 2013, 20:59
33
"can we mind our business before criticizing the 'evil syrian regime'?"
why don t you say that to hezbis your allies?
30 May 2013, 15:57
52
And in the meantime, the syrian people are used anyways to living under one of the most repressive and criminal regimes in the world. But yalla - who cares. The revolution is not over and never underestimate the tenacity of the syrian people.
30 May 2013, 16:18
25
What a stupid decision. This opposition group is a joke. What other option do they have? Watch their own people being bombarded by a regime on the one hand and looted by radical jihadists on the other? Absolutely ridiculous.
30 May 2013, 16:54
34
This is just a clever way of saying that the "Syrian opposition" can not come to any consensus so really can't attend the peace talks without breaking apart the entire illusion of the "Opposition Project" ...
30 May 2013, 16:56
33
Well...if I was him, I would have done the same. Qusayr will fall in a few days and he does not want to give Bashar the satisfaction of bargaining after this strategic loss...He would be seating at a negociation table with a lesser card...and a major one!
30 May 2013, 18:23
23
Nobody wants believe in your countless prophecies anymore. I beg you pardon but you are getting on my nerves.
30 May 2013, 21:22
10
Yes...just like Bashar let them breath huh momo... what are you...a retard?
30 May 2013, 21:26
21
lots of syrians still support bashar out of fear from the regime... not by sympathy which hezbis would dream it! take out bashar and see how many left supporting baath... like in libya, like in hitler's germany and so on... the same thing in ALL dictatorships
30 May 2013, 16:58
31
It's a question of timing really...if they win Aleppo in a month, they'll sit! Bah! Politics!
30 May 2013, 17:03
00
This is Democracy at its utmost....u don't talk....What kind of opposition is this and what are their objectives...ok...we get rid of Assad and then what?? Sunni extremists governing Syria applying Sharia, bringing the Sultan and Ottoman empire and sinking back into the 12th century? What do they want? Let them tell us their objectives and plans after Assad and we will either agree and support them or completely disagree and burry them..
30 May 2013, 17:17
00
He says:"No peace talks until HA and Iran halt invasion?" which is not going to happen overnight...I think he is reiterating what his bosses in Turkey and Tel-Aviv are advising him to keep this conflict going...Masakeen the people caught in the middle
30 May 2013, 17:40
00
el kaff bi ra2beton w3am yet3antazo. No wonder they are supported their Lebanese loser brothers of March 14 nobodies and Lebanon First Some Twenty-Four Damn Years Late and Still.
30 May 2013, 17:49
00
Ya George Sabra, clean your own act before making stupid decisions. At least Bashar didn't say "No Peace Talks until Al Qaeda, Saudi, Qatar Halt Invasion".
30 May 2013, 18:50
42
The international world is making a big mistake to keep delaying their intervention in Syria. The more they delay, the more messy it becomes, and the more difficult it will be to restore order. They are totally clueless.
30 May 2013, 19:58
00
What about the mercenaries on the payroll of Qatar and the Saudis, the Syrian revolution is run by blind, deaf people.
30 May 2013, 21:08
02
To all Arab/Muslims jihadist types in the M.D. who don't want to get along, take all the weapons you get from Russia and/or the West, gather all the Palestinians from their camps in Lebanon, take them with you and go fight each other and/or your enemy elsewhere.
31 May 2013, 01:30
12
Looks like FSA-Al Qaeda is really, really starting to fall apart. The terrorist suicide-bombers are being DESTROYED in Qusayr, and here their leaders are hopelessly barking.
Game over terrorists. Your days of slaughtering innocent civilians are ending.
31 May 2013, 01:36
00
I agree with Dr. Arreet 7akeh of Syria, Abou Jreij Sabra, in this position of refusing to join peace talks until "Hizbullah, Iran halt 'invasion." When they do "halt 'invasion" then Dr. Arreet 7akeh of Syria, Abou jreij Sabra, shall negotiate with al-Nusra, aka Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the West and Israel how best to bang their heads against a hard rock while crying like babies who had their toys taken away from them. You go, hard-headed Abou Jreij. No rush, buddy.
