Syria's opposition to discuss leaving Assad in power

CAIRO 

Syria's opposition is expected to meet in Cairo in April to discuss a proposal for allowing President Bashar al-Assad to stay in power for two more years, an opposition figure said Saturday.

The two years are expected to be followed by snap presidential elections in the light of the proposal under discussion during the meeting, Bassam al-Malik told The Anadolu Agency.

He added that the opposition would also discuss the drafting of an interim constitution to regulate practices during this transitional period.

Al-Malik said the Syrian opposition would likely head to Moscow for a meeting on means of putting an end to the Syrian crisis after wrapping up the meeting in Cairo.

He referred to joint Egyptian-Russian efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement to the Syrian crisis.

The main Syrian opposition coalition has not clarified whether it would attend the meeting in Cairo in April.

Sources within the coalition said, however, that some coalition leaders would attend the meeting on an individual basis if the coalition rejected to attend it.

The Cairo meeting is expected to be held on April 24 and 25, according to Haitham Manaa, a member of the Syrian opposition coalition.

Syria has been in civil war for almost four years now. The war has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions of others displaced both internally and externally.