Armed opposition groups in Syria have said that they will
not attend the Geneva II peace talks, saying that negotiating with the
government of Bashar al-Assad would be an act of betrayal and would be an act of treason.The powerful opposition group's statement comes on Sunday as fighting rages on near the border with neighboring Iraq and in the central city of Homs.
The Geneva peace talks set to take place on 
November 23 have been repeatedly
postponed amid wrangling among the Syrian opposition, and a dispute over which
countries, including Iran, should participate.
November 23 have been repeatedly
postponed amid wrangling among the Syrian opposition, and a dispute over which
countries, including Iran, should participate.
Meanwhile, in a hopeful turn, Assad's government has handed over on time a
detailed plan on destroying its chemical weapons stockpile, an international
watchdog has said.
- A move in line with US-Russian deal reached last month that headed off threatened military strikes on Syria and triggered the initiative for peace talks staged in Switzerland next month.
- However, in the latest blow to the peace talks, 19 of the groups fighting to topple Assad issued a statement saying: "We announce that the Geneva II conference is not, nor will it ever be our people's choice or our revolution's demand."
- The statement was read out by Suqur al-Sham brigade chief Ahmad Eissa al-Sheikh in a video posted online.
- They warned anyone who attends such talks would be committing "treason, and... would have to answer for it before our courts".
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani also weighed in on the upcoming talks, saying
that part of the solution to the Syria crisis was expelling 'terrorist groups'
from the country and complete the destruction of chemical weapons, a report
said.
"Iran believes in preventing the entry (and) expelling terrorist
groups from Syria and the complete destruction of chemical weapons will be
first important steps for achieving stable peace in Syria," Rouhani said.
The statement comes as the UN-Arab League peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi,
prepares to travel to Damascus on Monday garnering support for the upcoming
talks, a Syrian government source told AFP news agency.
Source: Al Jazeera
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