Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam described the decision to freeze Syria’s membership in the Arab League as a positive step, “but it is futile because it gives Bashar al-Assad a new opportunity to remain in power.”
The former second-in-command in the Syrian regime previously called for the Arab League to follow the same steps it took with Libya in the past March, asserting that it had frozen Libya’s membership while knowing that President Assad wouldn’t resort to any changes.
Khaddam added, in an interview with Al-Shorouk Daily, that the Arab League escalated the matter to the Human Rights Council, “which is incapable of making binding decisions,” describing the Arab League’s recourse to it as evading the truth. “It should raise the matter to the Security Council and take the same steps it did with Libya in March of last year.”
He affirmed that Syria cannot experience the same fate as Libya and won’t suffer as Libya does today, stating that “Libya suffers from multiple political orientations and parties desiring power, not foreign intervention.” He explained, “If the West hadn’t intervened in Libya, Colonel Gaddafi would have exterminated all Libyans.”
The former Syrian regime figure stated that Bashar al-Assad’s fate won’t differ from that of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, urging to label him as the Secretary-General of the General Support Authority for the Syrian Revolution and advocating foreign intervention. He considered the Syrian government to have become an occupying regime that doesn’t reflect the national dimension, citing the thousands of casualties, detainees, and missing persons.
Regarding the Arab initiative, he added that it didn’t align with the desires of the Syrian people and didn’t adopt their central cause, which is the overthrow of the regime. Instead, it provided an opportunity for President Bashar al-Assad to continue in power.
Khaddam emphasized that the Arab League shouldn’t have pursued this initiative given the thousands of martyrs, wounded, detainees, and destroyed homes. He reiterated the Syrian street’s demand to overthrow the current regime along with all its institutions, explaining, “We aren’t calling for the downfall of the state, but for the political system that seized it.”
Regarding some Arab countries’ support for giving the official party in Syria another chance, he affirmed that they cannot protect this regime from collapsing because it has lost its legitimacy. He added that these countries cannot halt the Syrian revolution.
Concerning Algeria’s opposition to freezing Syria’s membership from the beginning, Khaddam said, “I believe this stance doesn’t align with the positions of the Syrian and Algerian people during the glorious revolution and their struggle alongside it in all stages. It also doesn’t align with the history of the Algerian revolution.”
Khaddam stated, “Those who oppose military intervention in Syria must find an alternative to overthrow a regime that uses massive military force against an unarmed people who possess nothing but their voices.” He justified the call for foreign intervention by stating that the current government is not patriotic, thus foreign intervention is necessary to protect civilians in Syria.
Regarding Syria’s allies in the region, he affirmed that Iran has put all its weight behind Syria but won’t be able to contribute more than that. While they’ve sent weapons and military advisors, Hezbollah can’t intervene since it knows that any involvement with Syria would have negative repercussions for the party.
Khaddam criticized the Syrian National Council, considering it a unilateral entity that doesn’t respect the diversity of the Syrian opposition. For this reason, the General Support Authority for the Syrian Revolution was established, to serve as an alternative to this council and to gather the marginalized opposition.