Brussels – UPI – Former Syrian Vice President turned dissident Abdul Halim Khaddam considered that the recent statement by the “Muslim Brotherhood” group in Syria, announcing the freezing of its opposition activities to the regime, “represents a departure from the general line of the Salvation Front that leads.” He affirmed that “the recent decline in the opposition’s activities is due to its focus on internal matters,” which he believes contradicts the nature of his work with public activities.
Khaddam said in an interview with “United Press International” in Brussels, on the sidelines of the periodic meeting of the General Secretariat of “Salvation,” that the statement of the “Brotherhood” group, which is one of the prominent factions of the opposition assembly, “represents their point of view, and I personally do not agree with it. We, in the Salvation Front, are a group of parties and forces, and there are many issues on which there are different opinions between us and the Muslim Brotherhood or other groups.”
He added that the group “took that position, and I, in reality, do not agree with it because it does not serve the opposition and benefits the regime, but it represents their perspective and their affair.”
When asked if the position of “the Brotherhood” and subsequent statements by their spokesperson, praising the Syrian regime’s stance on the Israeli aggression on Gaza, contradict the orientations of the Front, Khaddam answered: “We do not agree with such statements, and we consider them a departure from the general line of the Salvation Front.” He said, “The Syrian regime has taken many positions through the speech delivered by its president, Bashar al-Assad, at the Doha Summit when he considered that the Arab Peace Initiative had died and that what was taken by force cannot be regained except by force. However, at the same time, he issues statements in which he encourages the new American president, Barack Obama, to accelerate the peace process in the Middle East, and this is considered an opportunistic position.”
He emphasized that the regime “wanted to exploit a specific moment of the suffering of the Palestinian people and the blood of Palestinians to cover up what it is doing in the undeclared framework.” Khaddam ruled out the possibility that the recent proposals of the Syrian “Brotherhood” would fall within the framework of mediation with the regime and said, “In my estimation, a meeting between the Muslim Brotherhood and the regime is not possible. Neither the regime accepts their return at all, nor are they able to offer the concessions that it wants.” He suggested that the goal behind these leaks might be “to disrupt the Syrian opposition.”
Regarding whether “Salvation” would take a stance in response to the Brotherhood’s announcement of freezing their opposition activities against the regime, Khaddam confirmed, “The opinions of the majority of the members of the General Secretariat of the Salvation Front are not compatible with this proposal. However, this point of view represents their personal opinion, and if they had approached us, we would have expressed our objection. Still, the matter is an opinion, and we cannot impose our point of view on them.”
The former vice president affirmed that the Brotherhood’s membership in the Front “will continue regardless of its recent position, despite frequent talks about isolating it or its withdrawal from the Front.” However, a source close to the Front told “United Press International” that the membership of the Brotherhood in “Salvation” would be decided at the meeting of its national council next month.
The banned group in Syria announced the suspension of its opposition activities to the regime, calling on it to “reconcile with its people and remove all obstacles hindering Syria, as a state and people, from supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinians.” In a statement issued last month, it stated that it launched this initiative “in appreciation of the historical phase that the Arab and Islamic nations are going through, and the political, military, and humanitarian conditions imposed by the Zionist aggression on our people in Gaza, and to provide all efforts for the main battle.”
Khaddam denied that the Belgian judge Daniel Bellemare, the head of the International Investigation Committee into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, had recently contacted him and said, “No one from the investigation committee has made any contact with me, but the committee took my testimony more than a year ago.”
He described the situation in Syria as “complex economically, in terms of living conditions, and in terms of people’s feelings of oppression, injustice, and the extent of corruption prevalent in the country,” emphasizing that these conditions “will be serious factors in achieving the desired change.”
