“It’s clear that the US has basically moved towards the Russian position on the Geneva communiqué, which is where we were nearly a year ago,” Yezid Sayigh, Syria expert and senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Centre, told Ahram Online.
“If it (the opposition) refuses to attend, it may lose the political recognition of the Friends of Syria and receive no further material assistance,” especially from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Sayigh says. Consulting with these countries for influence in the SNC may leave the opposition “without clear, unified, and unconditional political support from either,” he argues.
It does appear that the “opposition” will be “persuaded” to attend
26th May, 2013
Amid a flurry of meetings, it is still largely undecided whether an international peace conference aimed at resolving the conflict in Syria will take place in June.
In These New Times 