AL Fails to Gather Syrian Opposition Fragments

Local Editor

Arab efforts to unite Syria's opposition went through a fresh blow on Monday.

According to news agencies, the "Syrian National Council" (SNC), the main Syrian opposition group, announced Monday its boycott to a planned Arab League (AL) unity conference in Cairo.

The Cairo meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, but its fate now appears to be in doubt. The meeting comes as an attempt to revive the fragmented opposition together on a common platform.
"The SNC will not be going to the meeting in Cairo because the AL has not invited the group as an official body but as individual members," the SNC official Ahmad Ramadan said from Rome.

Another SNC member, Radwan Ziadeh, said "the AL had failed to make good on a promise to involve the group - which is now meeting in Rome to try to unite its ranks and decide its leadership - in preparations for the talks."
The Syrian opposition and particularly the SNC had continuously suffered from political jockeying.

Other smaller opposition groups have also said they would stay away from the talks, saying no clear agenda for the meeting has been communicated by the league.
Earlier last week, Syria's "National Coordination Committee" (NCC) official Haytham Manna said that the NCC would boycott and would not take part in talks sponsored by the AL aimed to get Syrian opposition groups get united.
 
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org