Syrian opposition group to visit Russia on April 26-27

Representatives from another group of the Syrian opposition, the Popular Front for Change and Liberation (PFCL), will visit Russia on April 26-27. PFCL representative Qadri Jamil said that they have a scheduled meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, April 26. The Front also plans to hold a press conference on Friday in Moscow. According to Jamil, PFCL leaders intend to discuss with the Russian side “the situation in Syria and around it, and how to start a dialogue inside Syria, which gives a unique opportunity to overcome the crisis by peaceful means.” “This is the most difficult question. In this case, the issue is not in the dialogue, but in the way to reach it. We need a road map that will lead to dialogue,” Jamil said. Jamil believes that Moscow can play an important role in the process of preparing dialogue inside Syria and to mediate between the various parties of the Syrian opposition. “It is necessary that all participants in the dialogue agree on common principles and ways of overcoming the crisis,” he said. The second important task is to speed up the political dialogue. So far, Jamil said, there is only “an imitation of the desire” to begin it. Delegates from another internal opposition movement, the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB), held talks with Lavrov in Moscow last Wednesday, a week after Russia’s top diplomat met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. Syrian and foreign-based rights groups have accused Syrian government troops of executions and torture. Damascus says it is fighting “terrorists” and that some 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed in the violence. More than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of a popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad last March, according to the UN. Moscow has twice vetoed UN Security Council resolutions over what it called pro-rebel bias since the start of the uprising against Assad, but gave its full backing to Kofi Annan’s peace plan.