Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
could play no part in a transitional government aimed at ending the 2-1/2-year-old civil war.
The Syrian National Coalition also demanded the release of women and kiddies from Syrian jails and an easing of military sieges of rebel-held areas as a precondition for going to Geneva.
No date has yet been agreed for the peace talks, which have been repeatedly delayed by discord between Washington and Moscow and by the coalition's failure to define its stance until now. "The coalition agreed to take part in the conference on the basis of a transfer of power to a transitional ruling authority with full powers, including the presidency, military and security," it said in a statement after late-night talks.
There could be no role for Assad "or his aides whose hands are stained with Syrian blood" in Syria's future, it said.
The United States welcomed the coalition's decision to attend the talks and endorsed its conditions relating to prisoner releases and humanitarian access.
"We will continue to work closely with our international partners, including Russia, to urge the regime to take these steps and move towards convening the Geneva conference," a State Department front man said, without commenting on the coalition's rejection of any role for Assad in any interim government.