The chief Syrian opposition negotiator in Geneva has resigned, citing both the international community’s failure to make concrete progress toward ending Syria’s five-year conflict and continuing hostilities by the Assad regime.
“The last three rounds of negotiations in Geneva under U.N. auspices have been unsuccessful because of the unwillingness of the regime to compromise and its continuation in the bombing and aggression against the Syrian people,” Mohammad Alloush said Sunday night in the letter to the High Negotiations Committee, the opposition’s representative body in Geneva.
“Also, the international community [has been unable] to implement its decisions especially with regard to the humanitarian angle from breaking the siege, allowing aid into besieged areas, the release of detainees and a commitment to cessation of hostilities.”
Mr. Alloush’s departure could be a particularly troubling development for the fractured opposition, which has faced difficulties nominating consensus leaders wielding both political clout with the international community and influence among rebels on the ground.
The HNC will meet in Riyadh in 10 days to form a delegation for upcoming peace talks and select his replacement, a spokeswoman said.
The resignation is the latest hitch in the continuing peace talks, as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, opposition and their respective allies appear no closer to finding a mediated solution to the five-year conflict. The latest cease-fire attempt, brokered by the U.S. and Russia, broke down weeks after it began in February.
Mr. Alloush’s announcement comes after U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura announced on Thursday his intention to resume peace talks, but said they were unlikely to begin in the next two or three weeks. Mr. de Mistura said their resumption largely hinged on reinstating a truce between the warring sides that collapsed in April, and delivering aid to besieged areas where the U.N. has recently warned of widespread starvation.
The deliveries face regular obstruction, mostly by the Assad regime. Earlier this month, government forces refused entry to an aid convoy destined for Daraya, a besieged rebel-held suburb of Damascus that hasn’t received help in more than three years.
The U.N. had been exploring the prospect of airdrops, but Mr. de Mistura last week cast doubt they would come to fruition.
“In order for the airdrops in particular to become concrete…there is a need for the cooperation of the government of Syria,” he said.
Mr. Alloush heads the political wing of one of Syria’s largest Islamist rebel groups, the Army of Islam, based in the eastern Damascus suburbs. The group has sought support from Saudi Arabia.
Dana Ballout and Raja Abdulrahim
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/syrian-negotiator-quits-peace-talks-1464597824
