Baladi News
The High Negotiations Committee (HNC) representing the Syrian political opposition confirmed on Friday its adherence to the political process. However, it expressed its concern about the "de-escalation" zones agreement in Syria, warning of harming the unity of Syria through the agreement.
The Committee stressed in a statement on supporting the sincere international efforts to stop the bloodshed of the Syrian people and renewed its call for the application of UN resolutions concerning Syria, particularly Geneva statement (2012) and Security Council resolution number 2254, warning of harming Syria's unity and of any attempts to pass projects aiming at dividing the country through the mysterious contents of what the recent meeting of Astana has called "de-escalation zones", which don't necessarily reflect the concept of safe zones that have become an urgent humanitarian requirement in light of the increasing crimes of the regime and its allies.
The Committee condemned the attempts of Assad regime to avoid the inevitable political transition through fueling sectarian tension and deepening social strife, stressing that it rejects Bashar al-Assad's acts of tearing up the country through dividing it into "useful" and "useless" areas. The committee also believes that Assad has lost sovereignty, legitimacy and eligibility to govern the country in light of his dependence on the decision of his supporters and his reliance on external forces, sectarian militias and groups of mercenaries to keep him in power.
The Committee also declared its ultimate support to the efforts exerted by friends of Syrian people, (especially Turkey), to ensure the success of the truce and guarantee committing to it. It also refused to recognize the Iranian regime and its violating militias as being a guarantor for any agreement concerning Iran an aggressor country that has to be held accountable for its crimes against Syrians.
The Committee expressed its concern regarding the agreement of Astana as it was concluded away from the Syrian people without any guarantees or mechanisms of abidance along with its deficiency of condemning the crimes of regime and its allies, especially the crime of using chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun and such a weak attitude regarding these crimes may motivate the regime to perpetrate a similar massacre against the Syrian people.
The Committee also refuses any presence of regime in the regions included in the agreement which, according to the statement, lacks the minimum fundamentals of legitimacy and that the Security Council is the party entitled to sponsor any negotiations on the Syrian case. The Committee demanded the US administration and the friends of Syrian people along with Arab countries to take a decisive attitude that prevents passing such an unbinding agreements and push towards activating the role of the UN in order to reach a political solution according to the statement of Geneva and the relevant UN resolutions.
