"The Syrian National Council, which is the biggest bloc in the Coalition, has taken the firm decision... not to go to Geneva, under the present circumstances (on the ground)," Council president George Sabra told AFP.
"This means that we will not stay in the Coalition if it goes" to the peace talks in Geneva, he added.
He invoked the ongoing suffering of Syrians on the ground and said his group would not negotiate before the fall of the regime.
"The residents of Moadamiyet al-Sham are dying of hunger," he said, referring to a Damascus rebel suburb under regime fire where the Syrian Red Islamic Thingy evacuated 1,500 people on Sunday.
"Ghouta (outside Damascus) is under siege and it is forbidden to even bring in bread. Are these the conditions that will allow us to achieve... a democratic transition in Syria?" Sabra added.
The international community, led by Russia and the United States, has been pushing for the Syrian regime and rebels to attend a peace conference dubbed Geneva 2 to find a political solution to the conflict.
The proposed meeting has been delayed for months, but Washington and Moscow are now talking about a potential mid-November date for the conference.
The Syrian National Council, which is one of the most important members of the Syrian opposition, has long said it will not negotiate until
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
's regime is toppled.
But Sabra's announcement, which comes after two days of meetings of the Council's top leadership, could deal a major blow to the planned talks.
It comes a day before U.S. Secretary of State John F.
I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
is due in London to meet Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy for Syria, to discuss preparations for the Geneva 2 meeting.