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Opposition leader implores US not to abandon Syria to Russia and Iran

The new leader of the Syrian national coalition shared with Al-Monitor his plans for lobbying the Trump administration during his first visit to Washington.
Leading Syrian dissident Riad Seif (L) speaks with former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, who defected from the Assad regime, during the General Assembly of the Syrian National Council in Doha November 11, 2012. Syria's fractious opposition finally put aside fierce arguments to rally behind a new leader within a new coalition that its Western and Arab backers hope can topple Bashar al-Assad and take over the country. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - GM1E8BC0UXG01
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p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 18.0px} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #0463c1; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #0463c1} span.s3 {font-kerning: none; color: #323333; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #323333} Russia and Iran are hijacking the Syria peace talks to outmaneuver the United States and cement their influence in the country for decades to come, opposition leader Riad Seif told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of his first official visit to Washington.

Seif was in town last week for a two-day conference aimed at organizing the Syrian-American community into a potent lobbying force in the Donald Trump era. As head of the Istanbul-based National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces since May, Seif has made it a priority to court US support for the beleaguered opposition and warn that Moscow and Tehran are using parallel peace talks in Astana to supplant UN-backed negotiations in Geneva.

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