The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. November 4, 2013 Syrian Opposition Says Assad Departure a Pre-Condition for Geneva Talks ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The pending Geneva peace conference on Syria appears further in doubt after months of delay. On Sunday, the opposition Syrian National Coalition said a timetable for the departure of President Basher al-Assad remains a pre-condition for its involvement. The coalition also rejected the inclusion of Iran at the negotiating table. The Syrian government, meanwhile, accused Secretary of State John Kerry of interference for publicly backing a handover of power.