A lawmaker said extremist groups fighting in Syria should be included in the Syrian peace talks to streamline the process.
Jalil Rahimi told ICANA recently that “a lack of participation by those supporting Salafi and Jihadi groups in Syria has stopped the Syrian peace talks reaching full fruition.”
“If we are to solve the Syrian crisis, we need to lay the ground for all the opposition to be involved in the Syrian peace process and take part in the talks,” he said in an apparent reference to the opposition groups backed by Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia.
He hailed the Friday meeting of the so-called Astana peace talks—an initiative supported by Iran, Russia and Turkey that has brought the Syrian opposition and government to the negotiating table—as the only process that could engage a wide range of opposing groups in dialogue.
He, however, noted that the opposition’s representation needs to be stronger with a final goal of holding free elections in the war-torn country. The trio has always said one of their aims is to pave the way for a free election in Syria.
