Islamic Front leader says as Jarba as Belfour, 'To promise what you don't have'

One of the Islamic Front powerful leaders described the Syrian opposition president in his negotiations with Assad’s regime in Geneva as a new Arthur Belfour, who promised the Jewish people of a national home in Palestine (The Balfour Declaration 1917), according to his official Twitter account.

Sheikh Abdullah al-Hamawi, president of the political body of IF has criticized Geneva talks, saying tacitly Mr. Ahamd Assi al-Jarba has no power on the ground to negotiate and to give promises, “As Jarba as Belfour, who had promised what he did not have.”

Meanwhile, UN and Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has said a Syrian government delegation and the Western-backed opposition will meet together on Saturday "in the same room" and that they have accepted the principles of a 2012 communique that called for a transitional government.

Friday's announcement came after three days of indirect talks between two sides that have not met face-to-face during almost three years of fighting.

The opposition had demanded the government endorse a Geneva communique of June 30, 2012, known as Geneva 1, which called for a transitional governing body to be established, before direct talks began.

Brahimi met separately with the two sides on Friday, hoping to broker peace in the civil war that has left 130,000 people dead.

The opposition says it has come to discuss a transition that will remove President Bashar al-Assad from power. The government says it is there only to talk about fighting terrorism - the word it uses for its enemies - and that no one can force Assad to go.