The Syrian National Coalition welcomed the forthcoming international conference on Syria, proposed earlier by Russia and the United States, but reiterated that President Bashar Assad must resign before the opposition joins any peace talks, RIA Novosti reproetd citing Al Jazeera.

“The Syrian Coalition welcomes the international efforts to find a political solution to what Syria has been suffering for two years while being committed to the principles of the revolution,” the coalition said in a statement on Wednesday, May 29.

Besides the resignation of Assad the opposition demands that all heads of Syria’s special services and high-ranking military officers should also quit their posts.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, however, said in an interview with the Beirut-based Arab news channel Mayadeen on Wednesday that Assad would remain the country’s president until the elections in 2014.

According to Al Jazeera, the Syrian opposition members are expected to choose a new coalition president, agree on interim government and reach a final decision on the so-called Geneva-2 conference, during their meeting in Istanbul on Thursday.