In a phone interview with Aki, Abdul Halim Khaddam, the former dissident vice president of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and one of the founders of the opposition National Salvation Front, confirmed that the Front “is working to explain its viewpoints in both the Arab and international arenas,” and that “a delegation from the Front met with US officials at the White House” in this context.
Regarding concerns that the meeting would open the door to interpretations within Syria (including opposition forces) about the Front’s relationship with the United States and the West in general, Khaddam said, “We have no concern about any negative interpretations that the regime may promote, because our people understand the Front’s goals and its struggle for their salvation.”
He added, “If contacts with US officials are a negative development, why has Bashar al-Assad been seeking and still seeks ways and means to dialogue with the Americans? Is his dialogue a national action, and is the opposition’s dialogue suspicious?”
Khaddam emphasized his rejection of this logic, saying, “We have no complex about dialogue with the Americans or with the international community because we are confident that these dialogues are in the interest of Syria and for the future of its people.”
Khaddam also emphasized that “the Front will continue its contacts with countries, whether in the Americas, Europe, Asia, or Africa, to explain the suffering of the Syrian people and the severity of the pressures they are under, and the danger of the continuation of this regime on the security and stability of the region.”
He accused the Syrian regime of “working for the collapse of Lebanon by fanning sectarian conflicts,” and in this regard, he referred to recent reports of a meeting between him and Lebanon’s Mufti, Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, which Qabbani later denied.
Khaddam commented, saying, “This is part of the campaign of disinformation that the regime is launching to stir sectarian tensions in Lebanon.”
Khaddam renewed his accusations against the Syrian regime of repression and corruption, saying, “The Syrian people live under a repressive and corrupt regime that has turned Syria into a big prison, spreading corruption and impoverishing the country, undermining state institutions and using them to protect corruption.”
He added, “In addition to all this, the regime has followed a behavior that isolated Syria in both the Arab and international arenas, which has negatively affected its interests.”
Khaddam emphasized that the Syrian opposition, represented by the National Salvation Front, “is working to free Syria and save it, so that the Syrian people can regain their vitality and capabilities, rise, and progress, and play their role in both the Arab and international arenas.”
A delegation from the National Salvation Front, led by Hussam al-Deri and Amar Abdel Hamid, met with several US officials, including Michael Doran, the senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council, last Thursday. The dialogue focused on the necessity of democratic change in Syria and the need for international support from the US administration for opposition forces in Syria.
This meeting comes with the Front, which was founded in June of last year and is led by Khaddam and Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanouni, the general supervisor of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, and includes Syrian opposition parties based abroad.
