Assad will still have to go: Clinton

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that Washington did not see any role for President Assad in the new government, even though there was no explicit call for him to step down.

“Assad will still have to go. He will never pass the mutual consent test,” Clinton added.

Her comments seem to contradict the terms of the agreement of the countries that attended the Geneva talks on Saturday.

UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan said at a press conference after the meeting that diplomats meeting in Geneva have reached an agreement on a Syrian-led transitional governing body that “could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent.”

The plan “makes it clear that we have provided guidelines and principles to assist the Syrian parties as they move ahead with the transition,” Annan stated.

However, Moscow and Beijing opposed the wording of the proposal that called for an interim government that excludes those “whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation.”

The foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, France, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League Secretary General Nabil El-Araby, and the secretary of state of the United States attended the meeting.

AS/HGL

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes