Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said on Friday that Syria needs a political or a military solution but in either case, it must lead to ouster of the criminal Baschar Al-Assad.
“Al-Assad must step down or be forced to leave,” Al-Jubeir said at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni after their talks this afternoon.
Jubeir stressed that Al-Assad has no role in the future of Syria after losing his legitimacy, killing hundreds of thousands of his own people to include gassing women and children, and displacing millions of innocent civilians.
During his conference, Jubeir said:
“The accords of Geneva I conference between the Syrian government and opposition provide suitable a ground for a transitional process including the development of a new constitution and forming an elected government that does not include Al-Assad,”
Jubeir added that his country backs the moderate opposition in Syria out of conviction that the Syrian crisis must come to an end through a political process, or the military defeat of the Assad regime.
For his part, Gentiloni said that a settlement of the Syrian crisis is crucial to winning the war against terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
He agreed that any political process in Syria must culminate in regime change which requires the contribution of as many regional and international powers as possible, citing the roles of Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States and Iran in this regard.
The Italian minister noted that the gaps in the views of the regional and international powers regarding Syria started narrowing in the recent weeks; therefore the mission of the United Nations and the Arab League Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has had good prospects for success.
KUNA contributed to this article.
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