Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam, in statements published today, Saturday, predicted the collapse of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Khaddam is actively seeking to overthrow. Speaking in private telephone statements to the Gulf News daily newspaper from his voluntary exile in Brussels, Belgium, Khaddam stated that “the current regime will fall due to the serious mistakes it has made in its foreign and domestic policies.”
In his conversation with the English-language newspaper, Khaddam emphasized, “It will definitely fall in 2006.”
Khaddam, who had been involved in shaping Syria’s foreign policy for nearly three decades, criticized the late President Hafez al-Assad, suggesting that his son should not have been allowed to succeed him in office. Khaddam alleged widespread corruption within what he referred to as the ruling family in Syria. He expressed, “Currently, there is no way to reform the regime from within the nation. Bashar acts as if he owns a farm and insists on managing it himself, dismissing any ideas that do not praise him.”
Khaddam, 74, severed ties with Assad in late the previous year following intensified international pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which implicated Syria and led to the United Nations holding it responsible. The United States has also escalated its pressure on Syria and called for the imposition of international sanctions following Hariri’s assassination.
Khaddam is actively working towards forming a coalition of opposition forces, including the Muslim Brotherhood, to overthrow the Assad regime and establish a transitional government in Syria, which would pave the way for democracy.
