INFO LE FIGARO – Exiled in Paris since 2005, the former Syrian vice-president calls for armed struggle.
The former Syrian vice-president is complicating the landscape of the Syrian opposition. Receiving guests in his luxurious mansion on Avenue Foch, guarded by two policemen in bulletproof vests, Abdel Halim Khaddam, 73, is launching a takeover bid on the opposition to Bashar al-Assad, while refusing any position for himself. Breaking his silence since his move to France in 2005, the former second-in-command of the state presents himself as a unifier: “I call on everyone to join our committee, to unify the opposition and create an atmosphere conducive to the most peaceful transition possible.”
Abdel Halim Khaddam is set to announce today the creation of the National Committee for Supporting the Syrian Revolution (CNSRS), whose 60 members, mostly from civil society and often expatriates, gathered this weekend in Paris at a grand hotel on the Champs-Élysées. This committee positions itself as a direct rival to the Syrian National Council (SNC), founded on October 1 in Istanbul, which brings together various opposition factions. Abdel Halim Khaddam denies this. “They are not representative. The SNC is the Muslim Brotherhood and a few independents,” he accuses.
Did the former leader act out of frustration for not being approached by the SNC, which mainly sees him as a historical figure of the regime? He hints at it: “We are against marginalization and exclusion. No one can claim to represent the people before the regime falls and elections are held.” But Abdel Halim Khaddam denies wanting to lead the new movement himself, which, according to him, does not constitute a proto-government: “Its name says it all, it is a committee that must support the brave revolutionaries. Political options will be expressed after the victory, in the elections.” According to Mr. Khaddam, all opponents should join, including the members of the SNC.
The Possibility of a Coup d’État
The committee does have a program. Where the SNC hesitates, Khaddam explicitly wishes for “a Western military intervention like in Libya,” explaining, “The international community can no longer consider the events as an internal crisis,” says Khaddam. He also calls on the people to “take up arms, as the peaceful way has failed.” As for the military, “I call on all officers to take their patriotic responsibilities and organize to participate in the fall of the regime.”
Considering the possibility of a coup d’état “by a group of soldiers,” Abdel Halim Khaddam defends himself from encouraging civil war: “It is a war of the regime against the people. The army has become an occupation army.”
This is the first time the former vice-president has spoken so clearly since his defection in 2005. At that time, he denounced the Syrian dictatorship on the Saudi channel al-Arabiya. He was less heard from afterward. The French government did not want to see him disturb its historic rapprochement with Bashar al-Assad. The exile had gradually found himself marginalized.
Times have changed. France’s honeymoon with al-Assad has ended abruptly. Khaddam was able to organize his congress in the heart of Paris. The same evolution occurred with the Saudis, who had somewhat neglected him to get closer to al-Assad, hoping to detach the Syrian president from his alliance with Iran.
On Friday, Abdel Halim Khaddam began a series of autobiographical broadcasts on al-Arabiya entitled “My Political Memoirs.” According to some Arab governments, the presence of a man like Khaddam in the transition would reassure the military, for whom the opposition leaders are unknowns. He himself “regrets” having participated in the regime while defending himself from having played a role in the repression: “I made my career in foreign affairs.” A Sunni like the majority of Syrians, he was kept away from security, which was entrusted to the inner circle of power, members of the Alawite minority.
Abdel Halim Khaddam today advocates for national unity: “We ask that the criminals be judged, but that we do not repeat the mistakes of Iraq. We cannot exclude two million members of the Baath Party. I also call for avoiding any revenge against the Alawite community.” He wishes for President al-Assad to be judged but predicts another fate for him: “He threatens Syria and the whole world with conflagration. Does this remind you of anyone? He has gone mad like Gaddafi, and he will end up like him.”
The Arab League Plans a New Meeting on Syria
The Arab League will hold a new meeting on Syria on November 12, “due to the continuation of violence, with the Syrian government not having fulfilled its commitments to implement the Arab plan for a way out of the crisis.”
The regime of Bashar al-Assad had agreed on Wednesday to a plan that included a total cessation of violence, the release of arrested persons, the withdrawal of the army from cities, and the free movement of observers and media, before the opening of a dialogue with the opposition. Since then, Syrian forces have caused around sixty deaths, including at least 12 yesterday after prayers for the major Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. In France, Foreign Minister Alain Juppé stated that there is “nothing more to expect” from the regime, which “will not engage in a program of reforms.”
