BEIRUT — The U.S. and Europe are putting intense pressure on the main Syrian opposition group to attend a long-delayed peace conference aimed at ending Syria’s civil war, even though agreeing to join the talks could irreparably split the already-fragmented opposition in exile.
The Syrian National Coalition appears to be getting support from its patrons in the Gulf for its demands of key guarantees before it consents to take part in peace talks. Chief among those backers is regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which is growing more frustrated with its American ally.
A meeting Tuesday between the Syrian opposition and 11 of its foreign supporters, including the U.S., provided a venue for Washington to press its case. But the coalition, which has been deeply frustrated by what it sees as the West’s paltry aid for the rebellion, did not bend. Instead, it presented a list of demands that made the already-slim chances of the peace talks going ahead look bleak at best.
While the U.S. and Europe continue to press for peace talks, nothing has shifted fundamentally in the conflict that would prompt either the government or the opposition to negotiate. The war remains a bloody grind as rebels and government troops battle block by block and field by field, seesawing back and forth.
For the coalition, which is riven by competing factions, the stakes for agreeing to go to Geneva are much higher. According to veteran opposition figure Kamal Labwani, it’s nothing short of an existential crisis.
“The coalition will either decide not to go or it will be split, and that could spell its end,” Labwani said. “Those who should go are people who are (fighting) on the ground. The battle is between the fighters and the regime.”
His comments point to one of the crucial issues for the coalition: credibility.
Fighters in Syria — many of whom reject negotiations — have accused the opposition leaders in exile of being out of touch.
Nevertheless, Labwani said the coalition is facing “massive pressure from the Americans” to go to Geneva — comments echoed by three other opposition figures.
The coalition has said that it will only negotiate if it is agreed from the start that Assad will leave power before the transition period. The government has rejected demands that Assad step aside.
