UK and US warns Syrian opposition they must attend Geneva peace talks

The United States and Britain have threatened to withdraw support from the Syrian opposition coalition (SOC) if they refuse or fail to send delegation to the Geneva Peace Conference on January 22nd. The peace conference has been set up to work towards resolving the conflicts and increasingly violent tensions taking place between the SOC and President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S and UK are urging the SOC to send officials or risk losing international credibility. The SOC had been asked late November to submit their delegates names but refused to do so. They are looking towards reaching a final decision by the end of the week though SOC officials are questioning the credibility of the U.S. and UK threat stating "If the British and Americans say that if we don't go to Geneva they will abandon us, it doesn't mean they will actually do it. They have a brutal dictator on one side and al-Qaida on the other, so who will they deal with if not with us?" Nonetheless, Kerry is confident the coalition will attend the Geneva Conference believing that the SOC understands what is at stake for them if they do not. Not only would the SOC suffer from their non-attendance but the UN, U.S., and Britain would face continued criticism for the international disarray. The Syrian crisis has already resulted in 126,00 deaths since it's start in March 2011.

SOC President Ahmed al-Jarba was stated as saying he had "always said it was his intention to attend the Geneva negotiations." The only issue facing his attendance is persuading the moderate opposition to agree when their homes and villages are being attacked. Critics believe that the Geneva conference will not result in progress, however. The U.S. and UK are hoping the Syrian government and SOC can agree on one "transitional governing body with full executive powers, formed by mutual consent, to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people". Yet, this will prove hard to do when the opposition is demanding that President Assad not be apart of any transition. Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, acknowledged this fact stating, "No one should underestimate the difficulty of the negotiations ahead. But we will not give up on diplomacy as the route to stopping the appalling bloodshed..."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/13/us-uk-syrian-opposition-geneva-peace-talks