Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam has accused the Syrian regime of “impoverishing” and “suppressing” its people. He made these comments days before a referendum for President Bashar al-Assad’s second term in Syria. Speaking to Lebanese television “Al-Mustaqbal”, Khaddam said, “We want a democratic system… Bashar sowed terror and impoverished the Syrian people.” Khaddam also accused the Assad family of monopolizing all authorities. Khaddam founded the National Salvation Front in exile in 2006, which includes Syrian opponents, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood. He made an appeal before the referendum scheduled for May 27, calling on Alawites, Baathists, and members of the army to “assume their responsibilities” to save the country. He pointed to record levels of “corruption” that the country did not experience under the late President Hafez Al-Assad, he said. Khaddam resigned in June 2005 after criticizing Damascus’s foreign policy. The Syrian judiciary issued an arrest warrant against him in May 2005 and circulated it by Interpol after the Syrian People’s Assembly accused him of corruption and high treason.
