Syria’s foreign-backed opposition, the so-called Syrian National Coalition, announced it had agreed to participate in the international peace conference.
Syria’s foreign-backed opposition, the so-called Syrian National Coalition, announced it had agreed to participate in the international conference aimed at finding peaceful to the deadly conflict in the Arab country.
The deeply divided National Coalition had been under intense international pressure to attend the conference.
The exiled Coalition voted by 58 votes to 14 with two abstentions and one blank vote at a meeting in Istanbul to attend the so-called Geneva II talks, which open Wednesday.
That meant just 75 of the around 120 opposition delegates took part in the secret ballot, in a sign that strong disagreements persist.
Leader Ahmad Jarba said the umbrella group would be there with the “sole aim of removing President Bashar al-Assad from power.”
Western powers welcomed the opposition decision, which Kerry said was "in the interests of all the Syrian people who have suffered so horribly under the brutality of Assad regime".
British Foreign Secretary William Hague praised the opposition for reaching what he called a "difficult decision".
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the decision provided a "small glimmer of hope" for Syria's people and his French counterpart Laurent Fabius called it a "courageous choice".
More than 35 countries will gather in the Swiss cities of Montreux and Geneva from Wednesday for talks on setting up a transitional government to lead the country, in line with a 2012 deal.
The Coalition, a grouping of myriad organisations, has long struggled to put forward a united front during the deadly crisis, rocked by infighting over its leadership and efforts to form a government in exile.