Syria peace summit: who exactly are the opposition?

With reports indicating international preparations are under for a political settlement of the crisis in Syria, disputes over the political representation of the Syrian opposition have returned to the fore once again.

Well-informed sources within the Syrian National Coalition told al-Araby al-Jadeed that the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is preparing a new initiative in this regard that is yet to be declared.

The initiative seeks to hold bilateral consultative meetings between Syrian opposition groups in Geneva in an attempt to reach broader representation of the Syrian opposition and unify its vision ahead of the proposed peace conference.

A source, who asked not to be named, said: "De Mistura is moving now only in the direction of the opposition, initiating contacts with various groups inside and outside [Syria]."

The source added that the De Mistura was "working on holding meetings with the opposition this month as well as with the regional countries that have influence on the Syrian crisis, to determine the framework of a political solution prior to the conference".

De Mistura is moving now only in the direction of the opposition, initiating contacts with various groups.

It seems that the envoy began his efforts following statements made by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, asking him to do more to launch a political process and gather as much support as possible for dialogue as a first step towards a political solution.

The UN envoy is not the only one working on the representation and unification of the Syrian opposition before 'Geneva 3'.

According to Syrian opposition sources close to Saudi Arabia who also spoke to al-Araby, Saudi plans to hold a conference soon to unify the Syrian opposition similar to the Cairo conference, to improve the opposition's representation before the conference in Switzerland.

The Saudi push in this direction is perhaps due to the influential powers' insistence on the legitimacy of the SNC as the sole interlocutor representing the Syrian people.

This, however, will require expanding this body or creating a new body to participate in the third round of the Geneva conference.

The influential countries in the Syrian crisis are aware that Geneva will be a a venue for serious and international backed negotiations. For this reason, they are rushing to hold consultative talks separately to prepare for the meeting.

Russia's recent efforts to hold consultative forums in Moscow can be seen in this context. Vitaly Naumkin, the coordinator for the Moscow forum, said the second round of the meeting held in Moscow recently was in preparation for Geneva 3.

Naumkin said the participants' task at 'Moscow 2' was to attempt to reach shared views and form a unified framework for demands and proposals to be presented at Geneva 3.

On the other hand, the SNC may be the party with the biggest concerns regarding the international contacts, which could threaten its existence as a political body.

It appears that this time, the SNC will not be asked to form the opposition group by itself, as happened in Geneva 2.

It appears that this time, the SNC will not be asked to form the opposition group by itself, as happened in Geneva 2.

Perhaps this explains why the SNC has rushed to enter the race for the opposition's representation, and attempt to pre-empt international contacts to secure for itself a central position in the coming phase.

Following Di Mistura’s recent efforts, the SNC tried hard to open channels of communication with various opposition forces inside Syria, including civilian, relief, and military groups, according to a source from Jaish al-Fath, whose members inlude the al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front.

The source said a meeting could be held soon between the Jaish and the SNC for coordination, pointing out that meetings were held earlier this month between the SNC and amajor armed opposition groups in Syria, with the exception Nusra.

At a time when the countries concerned are stepping up their efforts to ensure wide representation of the Syrian opposition in Geneva 3, the issue of the position of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in the transitional process remains ambiguous.

There have been different interpretations for the clauses of the Geneva 1 communique that was agreed upon as the reference framework for a political solution in Syria.

The communique calls for establishing a transitional governing body with full powers, an end to all bombardment against civilians, the withdrawal of regime forces from the cities and villages, and the release of political detainees including women and children.

In addition, the communique calls for ending sieges on cities and villages, holding those responsible for war crimes accountable, and setting a clear timetable for the negotiations.

This is a translation of the original Arabic.