Syria: in Amman for the Geneva Conference – Friends of Syria meeting: opposition must act responsibly, says Bonino

To find a political solution to the crisis, Italy fully supports the idea of organising a “Geneva 2” international conference that brings all of the interested parties to the same table. It will be vital, in this respect, to strengthen the Syrian opposition coalition at both the political and concrete levels. That was the position expressed by Foreign Minister Emma Bonino in Amman, where she took part in the “Friends of Syria” meeting to prepare the new Geneva Conference.

Cohesion and responsibility

“Cohesion and responsibility are vital factors” stressed by the countries belonging to the Friends group during the meeting, said Bonino. “We had an up-date on the latest meetings by the opposition and exchanged suggestions on how to help them”.

The meeting was attended by the United States, with Secretary of State John Kerry, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Arab Emirates, Qatar, the United Kingdom, France, German and Turkey. The results will be illustrated at a meeting of the Syrian Opposition Coalition scheduled to take place in Istanbul.

Previous meetings

Iran was one of the issues discussed in Amman. “The discussion to date does not envisage Iran taking part in the new Geneva conference on Syria proposed by the US and Russia”. The Amman meeting follows those in Istanbul on 12 April 2013, and in Rome at the end of February. The Rome meeting approved the approach of considerably boosting the help provided to the Syrian opposition groups. In Istanbul, a declaration firmly condemning all forms of terrorism was also adopted.

خبر للخارجية الإيطالية حول مشاركة الوزيرة إيما بونينو في اجتماع أصدقاء سورية في عمّان، ودعم إيطاليا عقد مؤتمر جنيف 2 وتعزيز الائتلاف الوطني السوري.