Former Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam said on Wednesday (May 11) that he would favour a military intervention in Syria of the same type as that in Libya.
Khaddam, who broke with Assad in 2005 after serving under his late father Hafez al-Assad, told Reuters that the current regime should be rejected through any possible means.
“At some point, an intervention might be needed. The people are being killed. A regime that kills its own people is not legitimate. In fact, they are enemies of their own people and therefore they will not gain national legacy. The national legacy will demand getting rid of (the leadership) by any possible mean,” Khaddam said.
Asked if that would include ”military intervention”, Khaddam answered, yes.
Further asked to be more precise on the type of military intervention he would like to see, Khaddam said: “The same as what happened in Libya.”
Khaddam said the situation in Syria and in Libya were comparable and the international community was using double standard in their treatment.
“In practical terms, Bashar al-Assad is doing what Gaddafi has done. In fact, there are continuous communications between both sides. Basher al Assad has previously sent Syrian pilots to Libya to attack the Libyan revolutionary forces,”
Khaddam said.
At least 800 civilians have been shot dead by Syrian security forces since pro-democracy protests erupted seven weeks ago, Syrian rights group Sawasiah said on Saturday (May 7).
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday more than 1,000 civilians had died in Syria’s upheaval.
Khaddam said those numbers were certainly underestimated.
“It’s largely underestimated. The number of causalities exceeds 2000 and there are hundreds of people who are missing. In my opinion they were killed and then the regime made them disappear,” Khaddam said.
Syrian officials say about 100 soldiers and police have been killed.
During his visit to Brussels, Khaddam presented a list of more than eighty people who he said should be subject to sanctions.
The European Union adopted sanctions against Syria on Tuesday (May 10), an initial step aimed at forcing Syria to end violence against anti-government protesters.
13 Syrian officials were added on the EU’s sanctions list, including a brother of President Bashar al-Assad but not the president himself.
Khaddam said Assad should top the sanction list.
Khaddam, who lives in France, came to Belgium to speak to media organisations because he is bound by French law to refrain from making statements against foreign governments as a condition of political asylum.
The former Vice-President has previously publicly stated that Assad had threatened former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri before he was assassinated.
