Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam called for action towards “peaceful change in Syria by overthrowing the dictatorial regime” in front of a conference of the Syrian opposition in Berlin yesterday.
Khaddam’s speech, who defected to the opposition in December 2005, took place during his participation in the second conference of the National Salvation Front in Syria. This front includes Syrian opposition figures and parties, announcing that its path to change is “peaceful civil disobedience.” Khaddam stated that the front works “to unify the Syrian opposition forces that share with the front the goal of achieving two main objectives: peaceful change by overthrowing the dictatorial regime on one hand, and commitment to building a modern civil democratic state where citizens are equal in rights and duties on the other.”
The General Supervisor of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Sadr al-Din al-Bayanouni, also affirmed in his speech that the opposition forces in Syria “adhere to peaceful democratic change, which should be a clear message to all those who present our people with two bad choices: chaos and civil war in the Iraqi style, or a regime of tyranny and corruption.”
Al-Bayanouni called on all opposition organizations and their figures to “focus their positions on general national consensus, the greatest common denominator, and to postpone their programs and specific visions until the desired goal is achieved, which is democratic change and the construction of a modern civil Syrian state.”