MESOP TOTAL DIFFERENT NEW OPPOSITION ? Syria dissidents meet to forge new opposition alliance

Agence France Presse – 9 June 2015 – CAIRO: Syrian opposition representatives met in Cairo Monday in a bid to forge a new, broader alliance against President Bashar Assad’s government and agree on a roadmap for ending the conflict.

The new grouping would offer an alternative to the National Coalition, the exiled opposition bloc that is widely recognized and supported by Arab and Western governments, organizers said.Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry addressed the opening session of the two-day meeting, which was attended by some 150 delegates, an AFP correspondent reported.The conference “is just a starting point, we will work together to get your message and your vision for a political solution through to Syria and also to the world,” he said. Organizers have promised that the new alliance will be totally different from the existing National Coalition and would be ready to hold talks with representatives of the Syrian government on the formation of a transitional government.