Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam announced his “readiness to appear before any investigation committee or Arab or international court in any of the corruption files in which he is accused,” admitting that “it was a punishment from the Syrian regime,” denying that he was “the decision-maker in internal policy.” Emphasizing his responsibility “in foreign policy.”
In an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, Khaddam asked: “Is it the Syrian people who have oppressed themselves for 40 years?” He considered that "the idea of a conspiracy exists in the mind of the regime, and it takes it out by accusing the young people who set out to demand freedom and who fear for their future and the future of the country of conspiracy and association with terrorist organizations to kill demonstrators and kill security personnel."
Khaddam confirmed that “the Shabiha are members of the Republican Guard, the Assad Fedayeen Brigade in the army, and the security services, in addition to groups that work in smuggling.” He announced, "He was responsible for the political management of the Lebanese file. As for security issues, the committee that was managing the file was not responsible for them, because all the security services in Syria are directly linked to the President of the State and the Military Intelligence Division," stressing that "he left the Lebanese file in 1998 when Syrian President Hafez al-Assad chose President Emile Lahoud as president of the republic, considering that “Lahoud’s arrival will confuse Syria because Lebanon cannot tolerate a military president.”
Khaddam pointed out that “the Baath Party ended when the party was dissolved on February 22, 1958,” considering that “the youth will succeed in achieving their goals, Syria will restore its democratic system, and the Syrians will regain their full freedoms and will exercise their basic rights as citizens in rights and duties.”
