BEIJING, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday parties to a planned Syria peace conference shouldn't put forward preconditions for their involvement.
"It is imperative for all parties to back the mediation effort of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N.-Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, facilitating and participating in the [Geneva] conference without any preconditions," he said in a statement published by China's official Xinhua News Agency.
The Syrian National Council, an opposition group supported by Western powers, said Monday it would join the peace talks planned for Geneva provided the Syrian government made humanitarian concessions. It also said Syrian President Bashar Assad should have no role in a future political transition.
The foreign ministry spokesman said all parties to the Syrian conflict should use the Geneva conference, which could take place next month, to express their concerns. A political solution is the only way out of the crisis, he said.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency says the Russian and Iraqi governments are pushing for the Geneva talks. Russia in particular, SANA reports, said the opposition should attend.
Russian and China, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have objected to some of the international effort to find a resolution to the conflict. They've said resolutions considered so far are skewed in favor of the opposition.
