The US State Department announced on Monday, May 13 that the international conference in Geneva of representatives from the Syrian government and the opposition may be delayed from the end of May to early June.

The delay is expected for both political and technical reasons. Russian news agencies quoted a Russian official as saying on Saturday, May 11 that it will be impossible to hold the conference by the end of May. He added that “there are very many differences: who can take part in this format, who is legitimate and who is not legitimate," indicating this could impede efforts to organize the conference announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov May 7 in Moscow.

While Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil Al-Arabi revealed the Syrian government has sent Russia the names of its representatives for the conference, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Armed Forces is holding intensive meetings in Istanbul to choose its own representatives. The National Coalition will meet in Istanbul May 23-25 to finalize its position in the international conference, although the coalition has welcomed any political solution that starts with the departure of Assad. However, the coalition's vice president, Riad Seif, has signed a statement emphasizing the need “to take with the utmost seriousness opportunities for a political solution.”

The head of the National Coordination Committee for forces of Democratic Change in Syria (NCC), Hassan Abdel Azim, welcomed the US-Russian call for an international conference to end the Syrian crisis according to the Geneva agreement.