22:39 30/01/2014
MOSCOW, January 30 (RIA Novosti) – The head of the main (click here) Western-backed Syrian opposition group will visit Moscow next week, a Russian diplomatic source said Thursday.
The source said a meeting between Syrian National Coalition head Ahmad Jarba and Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov is scheduled for February 4.
Earlier in the day, Agence France-Presse quoted Jarba’s head advisor Monzer Aqbiq as saying that the opposition leader “has accepted the Russian invitation” for talks in Moscow.
Russia, which has supported Syrian President Bashar Assad in the ongoing conflict between armed rebels and government forces in the Middle Eastern country, first invited National Coalition leaders to visit Moscow back in September.
Jarba earlier expressed interest in visiting Moscow, but said he was unable to come during the period suggested by Russia due to prior commitments.
