Syrian rebels and members of the country’s political opposition gather on Tuesday in Riyadh aiming to establish a plan for talks with the Assad regime.
During a three-day meeting, they are expected to try to find a unified message and agree on which individuals will negotiate with the regime’s representatives. The task will be complicated by the factious nature of the various opposition groups who have repeatedly failed to form a united front during five years of conflict.
“Saudi Arabia understands there are differences between these opposition groups, they have many differences,” said Saud Saleh Al Sarhan, a political analyst in Riyadh. “There is no time to waste for them to come up with one voice.”
Saudi Arabia is a main backer of the opposition and in recent months stepped up efforts to bring about an end to the conflict. At least 250,000 people have been killed since peaceful protests in 2011 calling for Syrian president Bashar Al Assad’s removal slipped into civil war. Millions of Syrians have fled to surrounding countries and Europe to escape the fighting and catastrophic humanitarian situation.
Along with various rebel groups, representatives of the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition umbrella, regime sanctioned dissidents from inside Syria, and members of the Cairo Conference, another opposition coalition, will take part in the meeting in Riyadh.
Extremist militant groups including Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al Nusra and ISIL will not attend. Nor will the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the most powerful Kurdish political group in Syria.