Assad must go at start of Syria transition, says Saudi

[WhiteTara]

Source: yahoo news

Paris (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave office as soon as a transitional authority is set up, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Saturday, insisting there is no way he can retain power.

Talks between the regime and Syrian opposition, due to resume next week in Geneva, aim to set up a political transition process to end the country's five-year-old war. A UN-brokered international roadmap foresees a transitional authority by the middle of this year and elections by mid-2017.

"Assad has to leave at the beginning of the process," the Saudi minister, whose country backs the Syrian opposition, told reporters in Paris. Referring to the sequence of events, he said: "There is a transitional body, power shifts from Assad to the transitional body, and then he goes."

After that "the transitional body drafts a constitution, prepares for elections. Some are arguing that no, Bashar leaves at the elections in 18 months, that's not how we think.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/assad-must-start-syria-transition-says-saudi-161831823.html

[romanic]

1. Only if Saudi Arabia follows.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. The House of Saud must go at start of Arabian transition, says Rabbit

"The Saudi royals have to leave at the beginning of the process," the Rabbit, who supports universal democracy and human rights, to;d reporters in California.

After that "The trasitional body drafts a constitution, prepares for elections and gives a driver's license to any woman who passes a road test."

[randome]

3. Wait. Wait. I thought getting rid of Assad was part of Clinton's PNAC master plan.

But yeah, it is rich for Saudi Arabia to be 'complaining' about another country's leader. However, the UN-brokered roadmap is pretty much counting on Assad being gone, too.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[roamer65]

4. Iran will not allow it to happen.

Syria is going to stay under Shi'ite control by their book and they have Russia backing them on it.

[840high]

5. SA - you go first.

The nerve.

[yourpaljoey]

6. House of Saud has new Wahhab minsitry all lined up

Russian Bear will never allow that

[Blue_Tires]

7. agreed...

[Yupster]

8. Says you and what army?

The Russian army says nyet.

[killbotfactory]

9. Assad and his government a tyrants, unlike the Saudi's. nt

[ButterflyBlood]

10. While a blatant case of pot meet kettle he is correct

Assad is now incapable of governing a stable and peaceful Syria. It's not as if even if ISIS and the other radical Islamists were wiped out that everyone else involved (including the Syrian Democratic Forces, who are a mostly Kurdish and Christian group fighting ISIS) would be all hunky-dory with Assad returning to full power. Any transitional government's survival will depend on Assad being shuttled off to Iran or Russia never to set foot in Syria again.