DAMASCUS: Syria’s opposition chief urged President Bashar Al Assad yesterday to respond positively to a call for dialogue and to delegate his deputy to end 22 months of warfare that has cost tens of thousands of lives.
“The ball is now in the regime’s court. They will either say yes or no,” Ahmed Moaz Al Khatib told Aljazeera, following up on his surprise announcement last week that he was ready for talks with the Damascus regime — subject to conditions, including the release of 160,000 detainees.
He later elaborated, telling Al-Arabiya news channel he was ready to meet Assad’s deputy, Vice President Faruq Al Sharaa.
“Since the start of the crisis, Mr Sharaa has seen that things are not going in the right direction,” said Khatib. “If the regime accepts the idea, I ask it to delegate Faruq Al Sharaa for us to hold discussions with him.”
Assad last month said he was ready for talks with the opposition but ruled out meeting groups such as Khatib’s National Coalition which back armed rebels seeking to overthrow his regime. Opposition groups have in the past demanded Assad step down before peace talks can begin. AFP
