BICOM

Moaz al-Khatib, the leader of the internationally recognised Syrian opposition, the Syrian National Coalition, yesterday reiterated calls for talks with President Assad’s regime in an attempt to find a solution to the country’s conflict with “minimum bloodshed and destruction.”

Last month al-Khatib suggested meeting with Assad’s deputy, Farouq al-Shara, if the regime agreed to release thousands of political prisoners. Yesterday, al-Khatib proposed that Assad’s representatives should meet with him in “the liberated land in northern Syria,” areas which are already controlled by opposition forces. United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman called al-Khatib’s offer “the most promising thing we’ve heard on Syria recently” and said that UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is exploring how to leverage the suggestion to broker talks between the two sides.

Meanwhile, reports continue that opposition forces are inching ever closer to the centre of Syria’s capital Damascus. The New York Times says that Syrian Air Force jets are bombing the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar and that workers in the centre of the city have found themselves trapped in offices with the noise of heavy gunfire seemingly approaching.

The Washington Post meanwhile claims that Iran and its proxy Hezbollah are building a network of militias inside Syria designed to preserve President Assad’s rule while at the same time positioning themselves to seize a foothold in the country in the event of Assad’s fall. The report cites an unnamed senior official in the Obama administration, who claims that Iran has up to fifty thousand operatives active inside Syria.