By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Special Representative of the UN and the Arab League on Syria , Lakhdar Brahimi, as promised, after the Eid al- Adha , went to the Middle East to facilitate the early convening of the second international peace conference on Syria, “Geneva- 2" . Speaking to reporters in Cairo, he declared that "the conference cannot be convened without a credible opposition, which represents an important segment of the Syrian people and opposes the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia and the UN hope that the "Geneva-2" will be convened this month; however, the Syrian opposition does not want to take part in it, and the U.S. believes that the conference is necessary only because the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy, and the country needs to be managed by the transitional government .
Last week, Qadri Jamil, member of the leadership of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation, the deputy head of the Syrian government, visited Moscow and met with the Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the personal representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East, to discuss ways to resolve the Syrian crisis, and we have informed our interlocutors about the course of the preparation for the "Geneva-2" conference.
“The basic idea is the creation of a general government, some people call it a coalition government, some - a transition government, but only the essence is important. It should be a broad coalition representing really different spectra - both pro-government and opposition ones. This is a basic requirement”, he said. “It was first put forward by our Popular Front for Change and Liberation in November 2011. Today we are happy with the fact that a lot of forces, not only in Syria but also outside it, agreed with it, and so we moved to this conference”.
Qadri said that the current situation in Syria cannot continue like this: “Internal war and its victims, the suffering of refugees, the destruction of infrastructure and the economy, the lowering standards of living of the people - all of these were tragic and catastrophic consequences of the crisis, and it is impossible that it could last. Those who believe that it is impossible may represent their alternatives. But if those who are opposed to the conference do not offer us, do not put forward any alternatives, it is as if they agree with the continuation of the current situation, and this is impossible, as I have already said. The government, which we are now speaking about – the expanded coalition government of national unity - it's not the end of the path. This is only a tool to achieve a number of goals”.
According to him, the three goals are suspension of foreign interference, putting an end to violence and launching the political process: “These goals, three goals, are interrelated with each other, and they can help implement the next target. After all, you cannot stop the violence without having to stop foreign interference. Starting the political process is not possible without an end to violence. Everything is interconnected. Ending violence can help launch the political process and dialogue. Today, many people beat their chest and say: we are defending and representing the Syrian people! But the Syrian people were not asked, by the way, through free democratic elections. Our task is to come to the polls to find out what the Syrian people want. Let's be modest and consider ourselves as various political forces and sit down at the negotiating table, the table of dialogue in Geneva in order to stop the violence and foreign interference, to start the political process, and then people will go to the polls and vote for whom they want. That is the only way out of the current situation”.
