Syria opposition, US agree on ‘core issues’

Syria’s opposition groups’ negotiating body yesterday agreed with the United States on “core issues” without clarifying their nature.

A delegation from the Syrian opposition negotiating body led its chief Nasr Hariri met on with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Hariri stressed “the need to take a firm international position on the Syrian regime’s repeated use of chemical weapons and the need to put an end to the growing Iranian influence in Syria.”

“The Syrian people are losing faith in the negotiation process, because of the regime’s intransigence and hindering efforts to find a political solution.”

Tillerson confirmed his agreement with the committee’s assessment of the seriousness of the current situation which could lead to obstructing the political process, reports from the meeting said.

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“He expressed his country’s readiness to cooperate more with the body to reach real results for the political process.”

The US official noted that his country “works in cooperation with Russia in a serious manner to build confidence in accordance with international resolutions including the file of detainees, and facilitating access of humanitarian assistance to the besieged areas.”

The two sides agreed to “continue consultations and to hold more technical meetings to achieve real support for the Syrian opposition that helps find a political solution to stop the deterioration of the general situation in Syria and achieve political transition in accordance with UN resolutions.”