Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam attacked the Syrian regime, accusing President Bashar al-Assad of impoverishing his people and suppressing them, just days before a referendum in Syria on a second term for Assad. Khaddam said on Wednesday evening in an interview with Lebanese Future TV, owned by the family of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in February 2005, “We want a democratic system (…) Bashar has sown terror and impoverished the Syrians.” He also criticized the Assad family, accusing them of monopolizing all authorities.
Khaddam, who founded the National Salvation Front in exile in 2006, which includes Syrian opposition figures, notably the Muslim Brotherhood, issued a call before the scheduled referendum in Syria on May 27 for a new term for President Bashar al-Assad extending for seven years. He called on the Alawites (the sect to which the Assad family belongs), the Baathists (the ruling party), and the military personnel to “bear their responsibilities” to save the country, according to him. Khaddam pointed to record levels of “corruption” that the country had not witnessed during the era of the late President Hafez al-Assad, he claimed.
Khaddam is one of the prominent figures of the “old guard” in Syria and resigned in June 2005 after criticizing the foreign policy pursued by Damascus. In May 2005, the Syrian judiciary issued an arrest warrant against him, which was circulated through Interpol, after the Syrian People’s Council accused him of corruption and high treason.
