LATEST: Arab League Head Claims “Peace Conference” on November 23 — But No One Backs Him Up
SUNDAY FEATURES:
Special: How US is Splitting from Turkey and the Insurgents
Analysis: A Trip to Moscow Reveals Assad-Russia Strategy for Victory
Military Round-Up: Multiple Deaths in Hama Truck Bomb
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SUMMARY: Since its chemical weapons attacks of August 21, Syria’s regime — alongside Russia — has pursued a political strategy which was not only to defend against criticism and intervention but to turn the situation to its advantage.
Having seen off the threat of US intervention, the Assad regime has been pursuing the next stage. It hopes to persuade Washington and other countries to withdraw support from the insurgency and, through a “peace” conference, to accept President Assad’s remaining in power.
We have two analyses explaining that strategy today: Scott Lucas looks at how the Obama Administration, moving towards acceptance of an Assad regime, is splitting from Turkey and the insurgency.
And Joanna Paraszczuk outlines the significance of a trip by Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil to Moscow:
It is significant that Jamil — as he points out in an interview with a Russian outlet — is not a member of Assad’s Baath Party, but a member of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation. Ostensibly the PFCL is an opposition party, but in practice it is closely allied with the National Progressive Front, the Baath Party-dominated ruling coalition.
Jamil has previously said that he said he supports change that takes place gradually and under the leadership of President Bashar Al Assad.
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Arab League Head Claims “Peace Conference” on November 23 — But No One Backs Him Up
The chief of the Arab League, Nabil al-Araby, said on Sunday that a “peace” conference will convene in Geneva on November 23.
Al-Araby said the meeting was confirmed after discussions with Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations envoy for Syria.
However, Brahimi said in the same press conference in Cairo that no date had been set, as the discussions could not proceed without a “credible opposition representing an important segment of the Syrian people”
The Syrian opposition, which has refused to join talks without an announcement that President Assad will step said, dismissed the announcement as unwarranted hype. “They are saying there is a meeting and I am saying that there isn’t yet,” said Haithem Maleh, a member of the Syrian National Council.
Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said that the regime was ready to attend the Geneva talks, but that it would not negotiate with “terrorists”.
