UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond welcomed agreement by a wide spectrum of Syrian Opposition leaders on a negotiating committee and vision which helps pave the way to negotiations to end the Syrian conflict. In a statment issued at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, "I congratulate Syrian Opposition leaders and their hosts, Saudi Arabia, on bringing together a broad and inclusive group of Oppositionists to affirm their vision for Syria, develop a clear approach to negotiations with the regime, and appoint a negotiating committee which will now prepare the way ahead," Hammond said. "I welcome the Riyadh Conference's commitment to a unified and pluralistic Syria and its rejection of terrorism in all its forms. The UK will continue to play our full part in the International Syria Support Group established to ensure a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition based on the Geneva Communiqué of 2012, and to an ambitious but clear timetable," he added.
