Calls for Assad removal hindering Syria talks: Commentator

Press TV has conducted an interview James Petras, a Middle East expert from New York, about the reasons behind the lack of progress in Syria peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The following is rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: The parties have been talking for quite some time in the recent round of negotiations and yet not much of progress has been made, according to reports. Now, what have been the stumbling blocks and those issues that have been hindering any tangible and substantive progress?

Petras: Essentially, the biggest obstacle is the Saudi-controlled opposition, which is insisting that Bashar al-Assad not be in charge of the organization of the elections, which would decide the content of any transitional government.

Essentially, they want to achieve their results without a transitional process and that involves as far as the Syrian government…is, the reasonable proposition that there be first of all an election in which the Syrian people would have a voice.

Otherwise, the decision would be simply dictated by the Saudi-organized opposition, which contains many of the terrorists. The big concern, and I want to underline this, of the Syrian government, is that what happened in Libya, when the Western countries bombed that country, what emerged…were fragmented terrorist groups that destroyed the country and that’s exactly what’s behind the Saudi proposition.

These opposition groups have very little in common apart from their opposition to Bashar al-Assad. The second Bashar al-Assad goes, there won’t be any free elections, there will be a war among all of these different terrorist mercenary and Western groups. And we will be in a much worse situation than we are actually now, which is calamitous to begin with.

Press TV: Clearly the Western world and major Arab countries have betrayed the Syrian people. But speaking of the stumbling blocks, can it be said in your opinion that the presence of some of these outright terrorist groups and organizations such as Jaysh al-Islam which is being heavily supported by the Saudi Arabian government among others, is to blame for the lack of progress in the talks?

Petras: I’m sure the Saudis are preparing a propaganda regime after they present unacceptable ultimatums. I don’t think the peace negotiations will go anywhere unless there is a consensus that the fundamental determinant of any transitional government should be a free and monitored election.

When I say a free and monitored election, I mean that the Syrian government under the auspicious of the sponsoring organizations of the United Nations supervised that this is a fair and honest election.

I think the Saudi opposition realized they cannot win in election and that’s why they want to secure by fear, what they can’t secure by the ballot box.

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