Diplomatic Pressure Forces Syria Opposition to Table

With international pressure growing for a political solution to Syria's war, opposition groups appear to have resigned themselves to the idea that Bashar Assad cannot be removed by force.

Syrian political and armed opposition factions agreed Thursday at unprecedented talks in Riyadh to negotiate with Assad, but insisted he must step down before any political transition begins.

Armed groups "can't challenge the international community's will," said Mohammad Birqdar of the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel force which includes hardline Islamists.

"It's clear that there is a will today to reach a political solution" and overthrowing the regime by force "is not on the table," he said.

But if the regime does not agree to Assad's departure then world powers "must provide us with weapons," said Birqdar, whose group is the most prominent armed opposition faction near Damascus.

Assad said his government was "ready today to start the negotiations with the opposition," but suggested that he would refuse to talk to the armed groups.

"So far, we've been seeing that some countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United States, and some Western countries wanted the terrorist groups to join these negotiations," he said in an interview on Thursday with Spanish news agency EFE.

"They want the Syrian government to negotiate with the terrorists, something I don't think anyone would accept in any country," Assad added.

"For us, in Syria, everyone who holds a machinegun is a terrorist."

- Vienna roadmap -

Syria's nearly five-year-old conflict has left more than 250,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.

The opposition has long complained of having insufficient arms as it confronts pro-regime forces who enjoy strong military backing from Iran and Russia, which is conducting strikes by warplanes and even submarines in support of Assad.

The Riyadh meeting followed an agreement in Vienna last month by top diplomats from 17 countries -- including backers and opponents of Assad -- on a roadmap to set up a transition government in six months and hold elections within 18 months.

The plan calls for negotiations between opposition representatives and the regime by January 1. 

The Riyadh conference "took place because there was enormous pressure on the opposition to unite before talks that will happen because they've been jointly decided by the United States and Russia", said Syria specialist Thomas Pierret from the University of Edinburgh.

But the opposition demand for Assad to go "is of course unacceptable to the regime," said Pierret.

Diplomatic efforts for a Syria solution have also been boosted by the rapid rise of the Islamic State group that has declared a "caliphate" straddling Syrian and Iraq.

The Syria-based opposition which is tolerated by the regime also argues that Assad's fate should be decided by the Syrian people, a stance adopted by Russia and Iran.

The United States warned Friday that some problems still needed to be resolved in the opposition pact if U.N.-backed peace talks are to resume next week.

- Signs of fragility -

"There are some questions and obviously a couple of, in our judgment, kinks to be worked out," Secretary of State John Kerry said without specifying the reservations which he said would be discussed with the Saudis.

In another sign of the fragility of the opposition agreement, one of Syria's most important rebel groups, Ahrar al-Sham, announced on Thursday that it was walking out of the Riyadh meeting.

But sources inside the talks and Western diplomats said it subsequently signed the agreement, under which the opposition groups formed a Riyadh-based "supreme committee for negotiations" that will choose the members of a negotiating team.

The committee will have 33 members, a third of them representing armed factions.

For Karim Bitar of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, "the apparent split in Ahrar al-Sham is a first sign that things could go wrong."

"Intense Saudi pressure was able to overcome initial misapprehensions but it remains to be seen whether the fears and concerns will not re-emerge rapidly," Bitar told AFP.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir visited the participants on Wednesday and is said to have made a second visit just before the final declaration was announced on Thursday. Earlier King Salman received participants at his palace.

Several Western diplomats were at the tightly secured luxury hotel where the talks took place without taking part in the sessions, and sources there said a Russian diplomat was at the hotel when unofficial discussions began on Tuesday.