Several Syrian opposition groups concluded a two-day meeting in Cairo on Saturday, agreeing on 10 recommendations to solve the crisis in their country, according to a joint statement. The talks between the opposition groups began Thursday at an Egyptian foreign ministry office in a bid to unite their front against Bashar Al-Assad's regime. The meeting outcomes focused mainly on demanding a transitional process containing joint oppositional bodies, and abiding by the Geneva I communiqué adopted by the UN Security Council resolution No 2118/2013. The talks witnessed a turnout form a broad array of oppositional figures in Syria, including Fayez Sarah, Ahmed Al-Jarbah, and Hassan Abdul Azeem. Ahead of the talks, the National Coalition for Syrian Opposition said it has not received a formal invitation to attend the talks, but some of its individual members were personally invited. Painfully aware of the opposition divisions' impact on citizens, the attendees demanded an agreement between all opposition parties to eradicate the military presence in Syria. They also demanded the release of all hostages and detainees, and protection for citizens living in besieged provinces. Moreover, the talk's attendees called on the banning of any weapons whether from the Syrian state or from rebel troops. They also requested from all countries especially the regional ones and the Syrian citizens to support their political resolutions which attempt to overcome the conflict. This was the second meeting of its kind to be held in Cairo between Syrian oppositional forces following one in 2012, however the situation has since only been getting worse. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent group for documenting Syrian casualties, announced 17,790 of the dead in 2014 were civilians, including 3,501 children. A new meeting, also in Cairo, will be held in the spring, to follow up with the political resolution in post-Al-Assad Syria according to the Geneva I communiqué, the statement added. Russia, known for its sympathies with the Al-Assad regime since the conflict's 2011 commencement, will receive Al-Assad government and opposition figures in Moscow at the end of January to discuss further political solutions.
