BEIRUT — Syria’s main opposition group in exile said Tuesday that it had not made a final decision yet on whether it would participate in a peace conference to be held in Geneva, adding that the international community must “prove its seriousness” by forcing Damascus to agree on trust-building measures.
The comments illustrate the huge hurdles that lie ahead in bringing the warring sides together, even as world powers backing the conference announced Jan. 22 as the date for the first face-to-face talks.
“We did not make a final decision yet on our participation in the Geneva conference,” Syrian National Coalition chief Ahmad al-Jarba said in Cairo. He said his group has indicated its desire to go, “but we think that the Syrian regime is the one which doesn’t want to go to Geneva 2 but the Russians are putting pressure on them to attend.”
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