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Geneva's final communique on Syria 'balanced'

Xinhua, July 2, 2012

• A Syrian parliamentarian said the new plan put forward by the Geneva action group meeting reinforced the six-point peace plan brokered by international special envoy Kofi Annan, adding that the meeting's final communique was balanced.

  The action group meeting on Syria reinforced Annan's six-point peace plan, Omar Ossi, a parliamentarian representing the Syrian Kurds, told Xinhua in an interview on Saturday.

  An action group comprising of world powers met Saturday in Geneva and agreed upon a roadmap that hammered out a process for a Syrian-led transition to end the 16-month-long conflict but didn't stipulate the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

  A joint communique issued after the meeting said that the global community wished to see "an end to the violence and human rights abuses" and that the Syrian people enjoyed rights to " independently and democratically determine their own future."

  The meeting specified the steps and measures to secure full implementation of Annan's peace plan for Syria.

  The key steps for transition, as the meeting concluded, include the establishment of a transitional governing body that includes members of the current government and the opposition, an inclusive national dialogue, and a review of the current constitution and legal system.

  "I think that Annan's communique was balanced as it pointed out that not only the Syrian government or the Syrian army have blood on their hands but also the other parties, the armed groups, which are killing people and booby-trapping vehicles," Ossi said.

  He contended that the Syrian government had fully abided by Annan's plan, "but what about the other parties? Have they honored their end of the deal?" Ossi questioned.

  He said the Syrian regime pulled back troops, released detainees, adding that the ball now is with the other party.

  Annan along with the action group should have worked more to practice pressures on the countries that support terrorism, he said, repeating the Syrian government's account that some Arab countries as well as western ones are rendering all kind of support to the armed opposition fighters on ground.

  Since 10 days ago, Ossi said, the Syrian army has been undertaking surgical operations to flush out the armed groups from restive areas, adding that army has dealt deadly blows to the armed men in a number of areas around Damascus, Hama and Idlib provinces.

  Ossi said those armed elements have carried sectarian-motivated killings backed by countries, which he named as, Qatar and Saudi.

  He said the Syrian army is in control of most of the rebel-held areas after the recent cleansing campaign, which activists said has killed dozens of people.

  Meanwhile, Ossi further said that the new plan in Geneva was a Russian one, claiming that Russia has succeeded in twisting the arms of other superpowers into making a balanced approach to the Syrian crisis after the U.S. had stipulated the ouster of Assad as a common ground for the Geneva talks.

  "The western countries have prepared a final statement that would have only condemned the Syrian government for the crisis, but Russia has succeeded in making the statement balanced."

  He made it clear that a transitional phase could take a lot of time, regarding joining new parties in the government and drafting a new constitution.

  However, "if they meant a transitional phase without the participation of President Assad, this would be impossible," the Kurdish parliamentarian said, adding that Assad have come to power by elections and the upcoming elections will take place in 2014.

  He said that Assad's presence is the key for the stability in Syria and the safety valve to all spectra of the society, expressing optimism that the Annan plan will succeed.

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