MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - The National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, a Damascus-based opposition organization, believes the three major opposition groups should be represented by a single delegation at Geneva II, a planned international conference on the Syrian conflict, said National Coordination Committee leader Hassan Abdel Azim.
The National Coordination Committee, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, and the Kurdish National Council have received separate invitations to Geneva II, Abdel Azim told the Voice of Russia radio.
"Initially it was proposed that all opposition groups attend the peace conference as a single delegation under the aegis of the National Coalition. We strongly rejected this option. We, for our part, proposed that there should be a single delegation but that it should have a neutral name, for example the Syrian National Opposition. Though other opposition figures object to this," Abdel Azim said.
"Whether it will be a single delegation or not, what we should think about is that the opposition should bring some common kind of plan and a common point of view to that conference. To make this possible, [the three groups] should have several meetings before Geneva. Our three delegations would have to bring their positions closer together in any case," he said.
There may be such meetings in Spain shortly, Abdel Azim said. "German and Egyptian diplomats are making efforts to that end. We support all those efforts," he said.
He also said the National Coordination Committee planned to state its position to UN and Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, who is due in Damascus shortly for talks with government and opposition leaders.
"We have prepared a document on what to do to achieve a ceasefire, form a transitional government and call new elections. Release of political prisoners is one of our conditions," Abdel Azim said.
He said many in the National Coalition, which is involved in military action against the government, support the Geneva II plan.
"The Americans are now trying to persuade the National Coalition [to go to the conference]. That is the only way to put an end to the war and chaos. Otherwise - the Americans realize this - Al Qaeda and similar groups will be getting stronger positions in Syria," Abdel Azim said.