13/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - Call for coalition's participation in Geneva II conference. On 12 January, 11 foreign affairs ministers from the Friends of Syria - including the German, Italian, French and British ministers - called for the Syrian National Coalition “to respond positively to the invitation” of the United Nations secretary general for the Geneva II peace conference starting on 22 January, and called on the coalition “to form a delegation as soon as possible”. The invitation “clearly indicates that participation in the conference will be considered as a commitment” to “the key objective of forming, by mutual consent, a transition government provided with full executive powers”, the ministers stated. “We commit to supporting the opposition fully at the Geneva II conference”, they added, also condemning “firmly the recent statements from the regime, by which it refuses to go to Geneva to establish political transition” (our translation). (CG/transl.fl)