Friends of Syria Group May Replace Russia, US as Truce Mediators - Opposition

The Group of Friends of the Syrian People, an international collective of states and organizations, could replace Moscow and Washington as mediators in the peace process in the crisis-torn Syria and try to achieve a long-lasting ceasefire, a spokesman for Syria's Tomorrow opposition group said Tuesday.

CAIRO (Sputnik) — Despite the US-Russia deal reached on September 9, fragile nationwide ceasefire in Syria in force since September 12 was undermined by numerous outbreaks of hostilities. On Monday, Damascus announced that the ceasefire was over, adding that the Syrian army did it best to respect the truce. Earlier in the month, Moscow has repeatedly said that the ceasefire regime has been respected only by the Syrian army.

"It seems that it is relevant to return to Syria's support group, which also includes the European countries, as well as the regional states in order to attempt to notch up success in the issue, where Washington and Moscow failed, but there is still very little hope," Monzer Akbik told RIA Novosti.

He added that tensions between Moscow and Washington resulted in inability to reach a long-term agreement, despite all the diplomatic efforts.

The Friends of Syria format is a group of countries and international organizations that convene to discuss the topic of the Syrian crisis outside the UN Security Council. It consists of a number of regional countries, such as Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as of European states, such as the United Kingdom and Italy.

Syria’s Tomorrow emerged in March in a new bid to unite liberal opposition forces under one umbrella organization. It is headed by Ahmad Jarba, the former chief of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, better known as the Syrian National Coalition (SNC).