GENEVA (AP) – Two figures from the main Syrian opposition team to the peace talks in Geneva said Saturday that they have rejected a suggestion that was put forward by the U.N. special envoy to Syria in which President Bashar Assad would stay in power during a transitional period and the opposition would choose three vice presidents.
The U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said it was not an offer but one of many ideas put forward in the attempt to find a solution for Syria’s five-year crisis.
The two officials told The Associated Press that the offer is not even worth considering, adding that Assad should not have any role in Syria’s future or during the 18-month transitional period during which a new constitution is to be drafted and elections held.
The announcement came after a new round of indirect peace talks resumed in Geneva on Wednesday in which the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, and the government delegation met separately with de Mistura.
Assad’s future has been a main point of disagreement with the opposition demanding that he has no role in Syria’s future even during the transitional period while the government delegation saying any talk about the president’s future is a red line.