MESOP NEWS SYRIA : US Denies Proposal for Opposition Inclusion in Government

By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – 18 June 2016 – The US has denied that it proposed inclusion of Syrian opposition members in the Government. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he agreed with the supposed initiative, and that President Assad accepted there was a need for a political process: The US proposal is absolutely acceptable. We must think about the possibilities of incorporating representatives of the opposition into the active ruling structure.However, when asked if Washington had made such a proposal, State Department spokesman John Kirby replied bluntly, “No.” Another US official said, “There is no such proposal.”

Kirby also was firm when asked if Secretary of State John Kerry had broached the idea during his regular talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “No means no.”

Before the US denial, the Speaker of Syria’s Parliament had rejected any inclusion of opposition figures, and the opposition had also dismissed the idea. www.mesop.de