Syria: No date has been set yet for the Syrian national dialogue

Reuters reported, quoting sources, that the new Syrian administration hasn’t yet decided on a date for holding the National Dialogue Conference, which aims to bring together Syrians from different sects to chart a new course for the nation after the fall of the Assad regime.

This dialogue is considered a major pledge announced by the Military Operations Department after the control of Damascus on December 8 and the fall of the Assad regime.

According to Reuters, members of political opposition groups, who sought to confront Assad during the 13-year civil war, expressed reservations about what they said was a lack of transparency in how the conference was being prepared.

Reuters explained that its sources included two officials in the Syrian Ministry of Information, another member of the new Syrian administration, and two diplomats familiar with the ongoing efforts to plan the conference.

Reuters quoted the sources as saying that official invitations to the conference haven’t yet been sent, although the authorities have contacted some figures informally.

News sources had previously reported that the conference will be held on the fourth and fifth of this month with the aim of bringing together about 1,200 representatives from various religious, ethnic and political groups in Syria.

In late December, it was reported that a preparatory committee would be formed for the Syrian National Dialogue Conference, which would organize invitations, details of its sessions, and its date.

Discussions are ongoing with all components of the Syrian people and the number of participants will exceed a thousand, and all figures participating in the conference will be invited in a personal capacity and not as institutions or parties, and the discussion is open with the Syria Democratic Forces and the Kurdish National Council for figures from them to attend the dialogue conference.

In this regarfds, media reports revealed that a meeting was held between representatives of the US backed, Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) and the commander of military operations in Syria, Ahmed al Sharaa, at al Dumayr military airport in the Damascus countryside.

According to sources, a US Chinook aircraft landed at the military airport in the Damascus countryside, coming from the border area between Syria, Iraq and Jordan.

The aircraft was carrying representatives of the SDF forces, coinciding with the arrival of Ahmed al Sharaa at the airport, which is located 35 kilometers from the capital, Damascus.

The sources indicated that the meeting was held under the full sponsorship of the US intelligence, where several issues were discussed, including the possibility of the Syria Democratic Forces joining the Syrian army, which the interim government in Damascus is working to reconstitute.

The issue of control over oil and gas fields and the distribution of their revenues was also addressed.

Despite these discussions, sources revealed that no agreement was reached due to the difference in views between the two parties on many security, political, and economic issues.