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                  Syrian Opposition Rejects UN Transition Deal

   by VOA News

   Syrian opposition groups have rejected a United Nations-backed plan for
   a political transition in Syria, calling it "ambiguous" and "a farce"
   while ruling out any possibility of sharing power with President Bashar
   al-Assad.
   A Paris-based [1]Syrian National Council spokeswoman, Bassma Kodmani,
   said Sunday that Syrians "will not accept engaging in any political
   track while the killing continues."
   Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed the day before, including at
   least 30 when a powerful explosion hit a funeral procession in a suburb
   of the capital, Damascus. Activists blamed government forces for the
   blast.
   An international conference in Geneva on Saturday accepted a watered
   down version of U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's plan for the creation of a
   transitional government in Syria. But at Russia's insistence the
   compromise agreement left the door open to Assad being part of the
   interim administration.
   Burhan Ghalioun, a senior SNC member and the group's former head, told
   pan-Arab Al-Arabiya television that "this is the worst international
   statement yet to emerge from talks on Syria." According to the SNC's
   official [2]Facebook page, he described as a "mockery" the notion that
   Syrians should negotiate with "their executioner, who has not stopped
   killing, torturing and raping women for 16 months."
   The Geneva deal was forged amid deep divisions between Western and Arab
   countries and China and Russia on how to end the violence. U.S.
   Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted Assad cannot be a part of
   Syria's future. She said it is now "incumbent on Russia and China to
   show Assad the writing on the wall.''
   Moscow and Beijing had refused to back a provision that would call for
   Assad to step aside, with Russia insisting that outsiders cannot order
   a political solution for Syria.
   Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the plan does not require
   the Syrian president leave power, saying there is "no attempt in the
   document to impose on the Syrian people any type of transitional
   process.''
   The wording of a final communique from the meeting calls for "clear and
   irreversible" steps toward a political transition. It says a
   transitional body must be formed through "mutual consent," and could
   include current members of government.
   Earlier in the meeting Annan warned the participants - the United
   States, Russia, China, Britain, France and envoys from Arab countries -
   that if they failed to act, they could face an international crisis of
   "grave severity.''

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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   [3]http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian_opposition_rejects_un_transiti
   onal_deal/1352363.html

References

   1. http://www.syriancouncil.org/
   2. http://www.facebook.com/SyrianCouncil.org?sk=wall
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian_opposition_rejects_un_transitional_deal/1352363.html