Meeting scheduled to unite Syria opposition in Saudi

A meeting has been scheduled in Saudi Arabia to bring together moderate Syrian opposition groups, in an attempt to present them as a united front in future negotiations, Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent reported on Thursday.

The correspondent learned from an ambassador in New York that U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura “informed the members in closed session that there will be a meeting in KSA on Dec. 15 to unite the moderate Syrian opposition to present a united front in any negotiations with the regime on a Transitional Governing body.”

The news comes after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that Syria could be weeks away from a “big transition,” following on from international talks in Vienna at the weekend.

World diplomats gathered in Vienna agreed on a fixed calendar for Syria that would see a transitional government in six months and elections in 18 months.

However the tricky subject of the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remained unanswered.

Meanwhile, the correspondent also said a meeting is expected in Jordan, to name and list which groups are considered “terrorists” in Syria.

Kerry said after the talks in Vienna that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council also agreed to pass a resolution in favor of a ceasefire in Syria. But he added that a ceasefire did not apply to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, the al-Qaeda-affiliate Al-Nusra Front or other terrorist organizations.

Also read: Syrian rebel group says studying local ceasefire proposal.