Southern Front receives invitation to attend Saudi-sponsored conference over Syria

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Southern Front rebel group has received an invitation by Saudi Arabia to to attend Riyadh conference scheduled in mid December, well-informed sources told Zaman al Wasl on Friday.

The conference meant to unify as many Syrian political and armed opposition factions as possible around a common agenda is convening in Abha within ten days, ahead of forthcoming negotiations with the Syrian regime, slated for January 1, 2016, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed.

The Southern Front includes some 30,000 fighters from more than 55 mainstream opposition groups operating from the Jordanian border to the outskirts of Damascus and the Golan Heights.

More rebel groups branded as Salfist and radical by the West to attend opposition conference such as Jaish al-Islam, or Islam Army, and Ajnad al-Sham movement.

Earlier reports had suggested Riyadh would push for the opposition Syrian National Coalition, the most prominent political opposition body, to lead the Syrian opposition's negotiation delegation, al-Araby said.

In its turn, the Coalition has submitted Saudi Arabia the final list of its representatives supposed to attend Riyadh conference.

SNC's list includes 22 members headed by its president Khaled Khoja.

Since it began in 2011, Syria's conflict has fractured into a complex array of fronts between Kurds, rebels, regime and jihadists, and has killed more than 250,000 people.