Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam met with the Comptroller General of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, Ali Sadreddin Al Bayanouni, in Brussels yesterday. During the meeting, they decided to contact Syrian opposition parties to intensify pressure to remove President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. This is the first meeting of its kind between Khaddam and Bayanouni, according to sources from both parties. Khaddam was a key figure in the Syrian regime when its security and military agencies were accused of suppressing the group during the 1980s.
The Director of the Levant Institute in London, a figure close to Bayanouni, Obeida Nahhas, stated that the meeting was the culmination of a series of contacts between the two men. Jihad Khaddam said that a meeting was held in Brussels yesterday evening to discuss the situation in the region, particularly in Syria. He added that a joint vision has been agreed upon to save Syria from its current situation, and all parties in the Syrian opposition, at home and abroad, will be contacted to agree on a common vision and joint action to save the country.
Jihad Khaddam added that both sides stressed their rejection of external interference in Syria’s internal affairs and that change is the responsibility of Syrians to remove the corrupt and tyrannical regime and establish a democratic system. Nahhas said that the two sides agreed on the need to work with other national forces and hold meetings with them, including the parties to the Damascus Declaration, in order to unify them and find a formula for joint action to save Syria from its ordeal.
He added that they agreed change was the responsibility of Syrians and rejected external interference in the internal affairs of the country. Nahhas explained that the two men held the current regime responsible for everything that has happened to Syria and what may affect it. They pointed out that the danger to Syria is caused by the adventurous policies that the regime has adopted and continues to pursue.
Nahhas said that the meeting between Bayanouni and Khaddam took place on February 7th and 8th and included a preliminary session and two working sessions in which they exchanged views. Nahhas added that Khaddam stressed during the meeting that the Muslim Brotherhood is an essential part of the political components of national action in Syria. He agreed with Bayanouni to activate work with other national forces for the desired change.
