(Foreign Ministry handout )
The President of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) has expressed interest in coordinating with the Egyptian government in working towards a solution to the ongoing Syrian conflict.
Ahmed Jarba, who heads the coalition of groups opposing Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy on Saturday to discuss the latest developments of the conflict and the humanitarian situation on the ground.
The meeting follows the Geneva II international conference aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict. At the conference Fahmy stressed the need for the opposition to present a unified vision and he offered Cairo as a venue to host a meeting to achieve this.
Chairman of alternative Syrian opposition group, the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB), Hassan Abdel Azim was also in attendance at the foreign ministry on Saturday. Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty told Daily News Egypt that Fahmy met with Jarba and Abdel Azim separately and called on both leaders to increase their coordination.
“This is part of ongoing efforts by the Egyptian government to unify and achieve better coordination between the opposition factions,” said Abdelatty. The aim is to ensure a unified stance for negotiations with the Assad regime, said the spokesman.
No agreement was reached to hold a meeting of opposition factions in Cairo.
Fahmy expressed to Jarba his “appreciation that a political process, which began in Geneva, although difficult, is the only path to finding a new dynamic to be developed to reach a political settlement that will satisfy the aspirations of the Syrian people and their aspirations for change, freedom and democracy.”
The Geneva II talks saw little progress in kick-starting negotiations between the opposition and the regime; however, representatives from both sides sat face to face and discussed issues for the first time since the conflict began in March 2011.
