Saudi-Backed Groups Are Terrorists Not Opposition, Syrian MP Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A top Syrian lawmaker said the so-called opposition groups in Riyadh are in fact terrorists that benefit from the backing of Saudis, saying they need a lot of time to reach a consensus.
The so-called opposition groups that are being armed and funded by Saudi Arabia are terrorists and criminals, chairman of the Syrian parliament’s national security commission, Ibrahim al-Mahmoud, told Tasnim.
Damascus only agrees with the Syrian people who support the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and try to reconstruct the country, he added.
Mahmoud argued that representatives of the armed groups in Riyadh are not independent but receive orders from their Saudi masters.
The groups that have gathered in Riyadh under the name of the opposition will need a long time to reach a common ground, he added, saying it will not be the Saudi-backed groups who make decisions at the UN-sponsored Syria peace talks.
On Friday, the main Syrian opposition grouping agreed to attend UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva, reversing a boycott that had threatened to wreck the first attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the war in two years.
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has invited the Syrian government and an opposition umbrella group to Geneva for "proximity talks", in which they would meet in separate rooms.
Until the last minute, the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) had refused to attend.