At a time when the Syrian people reject the slogan “the people want to overthrow the regime” and instead chant for freedom, Abdul Halim Khaddam, former Vice President of Syria under Hafez al-Assad, went further in his statements. He asserted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “will step down, and the Syrian people will achieve their goals, I have no doubt about that,” pointing out that “the people are tired of authoritarian rule.”
In a press conference held in Brussels, Khaddam commented on the reforms announced by the Syrian leadership, saying: “The problem is not in issuing this decree or that decree, the problem lies in the nature of the regime,” adding: “I know the structure of the regime, these are unreformable systems whose time has passed.” He expressed his belief that “the reform talked about by the Syrian authorities will not lead to change, as the regime may cancel emergency laws and introduce harsher anti-terrorism laws.”
Regarding the nature of the protest movement in Syria, Khaddam said: “It is a youth revolution led by the youth themselves, and it is not connected to any party or political group, but includes young people from various currents and parties.” He warned of sectarian tension in Syria, stating that “this regime is the one that established such behavior and adopted marginalization and isolation,” while emphasizing that “the Syrian people are not sectarian.”
In response to a question about whether the change he expects in Syria will come in an Egyptian or Libyan manner, Khaddam replied: “All opposition parties and the youth movement in Syria are calling for peaceful change, and there is no one among the Syrians calling for military intervention.”
Khaddam explained that he held his press conference in Brussels rather than in Paris, where he has resided since his defection from the Syrian regime in 2005, due to “objective circumstances related to my presence abroad,” referring, it seems, to the nature of the political asylum granted to him by the French authorities, which prohibits him from engaging in public political activity on their soil.
