Working Toward A Negotiated Settlement For Syria

The London 11 – a coalition of key international partners supporting the Syrian opposition, which includes Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States - met recently in London to, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “reaffirm the international community’s strong commitment to trying to end the bloodshed in Syria, and to try to bring stability to that war-torn country.”

Working Toward A Negotiated Settlement For Syria

The group expressed support for a proposed peace conference under the auspices of the U.N, known as Geneva II, based on the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué of June 30, 2012, which called for a political transition in Syria, while preserving the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian State. The transition would involve, by mutual consent of both the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition, the formation of a Transitional Governing Body, or TGB, with full executive powers.

The London 11 stipulated in a communique that “when the TGB is established, Assad and his close associates with blood on their hands will have no role in Syria.” The group also pledged to increase assistance to the opposition, including to the Syrian Opposition Coalition, and to the moderate opposition’s Supreme Military Council.

Secretary of State Kerry said that the recent framework to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program does not, however, remove the crisis in Syria:

“It doesn’t change the situation for people who are under fire from Assad’s artillery or his bombs, his airplanes, his Scuds. Assad continues to deploy ballistic missiles and other conventional weapons, and he’s using his air force to rain down terror on the people of his country.”

Secretary Kerry said that what is at stake in Syria is “the potential for a beautiful and ancient country to be fully destroyed by sectarian and extremist violence.” That is why the London 11 supports the Geneva process as a “roadmap that leads to a new future, and it’s a future that can end the bloodshed in Syria, can respond to the humanitarian catastrophe, and...rid the country of violent extremist groups…We’re in the important days of trying to make this [Geneva II] conference happen,” said Mr. Kerry. “I believe it can, and we’re going to stay at it until it does.”