US warns Assad he must step aside to foster peace in Syria
Comments by US Secretary of State John Kerry signal America is uncertain rebels will attend the UN-hosted conference in Switzerland
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned the Syrian regime yesterday it would fail to divert peace talks away from the aim of installing a new government.
Accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of funding and even ceding territory to extremists in order to fuel fears of militant groups, Kerry said "nobody is going to be fooled."
"They can bluster, they can protest, they can put out distortions, the bottom line is we are going to Geneva to implement Geneva I, and if Assad doesn't do that he will invite greater response," he said.
Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have led moves to bring together the divided Syrian opposition and the Assad regime for the first time since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
More than 35 countries will gather in the Swiss cities of Montreux and Geneva from Wednesday for talks on setting up a transitional government to lead the country, in line with a 2012 deal.
"I believe, as we begin to get to Geneva and begin to get into this process, that it will become clear that there is no political solution whatsoever if Assad is not discussing a transition and if he thinks he's going to be part of that future. It's not going to happen," Kerry said.
The international community was "not out of options" for increasing pressure on Assad, Kerry said as he met yesterday with Mexico's foreign minister Jose Antonio Meade and their Canadian counterpart John Baird.