RIYADH: Syria’s political and armed opposition factions agreed at unprecedented talks in Riyadh late on Thursday night to negotiate with President Bashar al Assad, but insisted he must step down before any political transition begins.

Armed groups “can’t challenge the international community’s will”, said Mohammad Birqdar of the Saudi-backed Jaish al Islam rebel force, which includes hardline Islamists.

“It’s clear that there is a will today to reach a political solution” and overthrowing the government by force “is not on the table”, he said.

But if the Syrian government does not agree to Assad’s departure, then world powers “must provide us with weapons”, said Birqdar, whose group is the most prominent armed opposition faction near Damascus.

Assad said his government was “ready today to start negotiations with the opposition”, but suggested that he would refuse to talk to armed groups.

“So far, we’ve been seeing that some countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United States, and some Western countries wanted the terrorist groups to join these negotiations,” he said in an interview on Thursday with Spanish news agency EFE.

“They want the Syrian government to negotiate with the terrorists, something I don’t think anyone would accept in any country,” Assad added.

“For us, in Syria, everyone who holds a machinegun is a terrorist.”

VIENNA ROADMAP: Syria’s nearly five-year-old conflict has left more than 250,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.

The opposition has long complained of having insufficient arms as it confronts pro-Assad forces who enjoy strong military backing from Iran and Russia, which is conducting strikes by warplanes and even submarines in support of Assad.

The Riyadh meeting followed an agreement in Vienna last month by top diplomats from 17 countries -- including backers and opponents of Assad -- on a roadmap to set up a transition government in six months and hold elections within 18 months.

The plan calls for negotiations between opposition representatives and the government by Jan 1.

The Riyadh conference “took place because there was enormous pressure on the opposition to unite before talks that will happen because they’ve been jointly decided by the United States and Russia”, said Syria specialist Thomas Pierret from the University of Edinburgh.

But the opposition demand for Assad to go “is of course unacceptable to the regime”, said Pierret.

Diplomatic efforts for a Syria solution have also been boosted by the rapid rise of the militant Islamic State group that has declared a “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq.

The Syria-based opposition, which is tolerated by the government, also argues that Assad’s fate should be decided by the Syrian people, a stance adopted by Russia and Iran.

The United States warned on Friday that some problems still needed to be resolved in the opposition pact if UN-backed peace talks were to resume next week.

“There are some questions and obviously a couple of, in our judgement, kinks to be worked out,” Secretary of State John Kerry said without specifying the reservations which he said would be discussed with the Saudis.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2015