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Syrian Opposition Summit Scheduled for October | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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London- Extensive contacts kicked off lately in support of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) efforts to hold a broad opposition meeting next October that could reach a political vision and a unified delegation ahead of engaging in serious talks with Damascus for implementing UNSC Resolution 2254 and achieving a political transition in the country.

The latest HNC meeting started in Riyadh and were followed by a new wave of active international and regional contacts.

Several opposition groups, in addition to the team of UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, have repeatedly called for a broad opposition summit that unifies the Syrian opposition statements and form a delegation that should negotiate with Damascus based on the Riyadh summit held at the end of 2015.

The upcoming Summit aims to approve the opposition’s new vision, strategy and structure, and unify its branches, which include parties that attended the Moscow and Cairo platforms, founder of the Tomorrow Movement Ahmad Jabra, in addition to opposition figures and representatives from the armed factions.

The opposition Summit might also include Kurdish figures and forces, and local councils that were formed following the de-escalation deals in the southwest of Syria under a US-Russian-Jordanian patronage, and in Damascus’ Ghouta and the countryside of Homs under Russian support and Egyptian mediation.

The opposition hopes that with the support of the US, Russia and other regional states, Damascus will be left with one option: engage in talks with one unified opposition, implement Resolution 2254 and reach a smooth and correct political transition that realizes the hopes of the Syrian people in having a unified Syria.

According to some sources, talks held at the HNC level still focus on the principles related to the upcoming Summit, in addition to the position of those attending it, regarding head of Syrian regime Bashar Assad.