Dubai: A prominent lawmaker from Syria’s ruling party has rejected preconditions for dialogue set by the opposition chief to help end nearly two years of bloodshed.
Fayez Sayegh told AP that dialogue between the Syrian government and its political opponents in the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition should start without preconditions.
Opposition chief Muath Al Khatib called on President Bashar Al Assad on Monday to respond to his overture for dialogue to save the country after 22 months of civil war. Al Khatib suggested that Al Assad should begin releasing tens of thousands of political prisoners as a first step.
Sayegh said on Tuesday that the numbers cited were exaggerated and that the opposition aimed to embarrass the regime.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the opposition said in a telephone interview that members of the coalition’s board had also decided that they would offer Al Assad the opportunity to escape prosecution, provided he left the country.
”This is the best thing we are willing to offer if we were to have a dialogue with the regime,” said the spokesman, Walid Al Bunni. “This is a concession we might bring up if we have a dialogue, but the basis for the dialogue should be the regime stepping down.”
Al Bunni noted that the coalition had issued a statement on Thursday, a day after Al Khatib made the offer, that emphasised “that any dialogue should be based on the idea of transition and that the coalition welcomes any international effort if that’s the vision they have in mind”.
Al Bunni also said, “If this goal, [Al] Assad stepping down, can be achieved through a political solution, then we are going to receive it in a positive way.”
Al Khatib sought to strengthen his political credentials at a regional security conference held in Munich over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Syria’s defence minister said the army had proved it would not be defeated in its confrontation with rebels trying to overthrow Al Assad, but declined to say whether it would respond to an Israeli air strike last week.
“This heroic Syrian Arab army proved to the world that it is a strong army, a trained army, an army that cannot be broken,” Fahed Al Freij told state television in an interview broadcast on Monday.
