Abdel Halim Khaddam, the former Syrian Vice President, has been quoted as seeking to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad through a popular uprising. Khaddam told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper from his home in Paris that he was mobilizing Syrian opposition parties to create the right atmosphere for the Syrian people to overthrow the regime.
In an interview, Khaddam stated that this regime “cannot be reformed and there is nothing left but to overthrow it.” He added that “it is the Syrian people who will bring down the regime.” These are the latest statements made by Khaddam in an unprecedented attack on Assad, who is under heavy international pressure to cooperate with a United Nations investigation into the assassination of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
In the interview, Khaddam stated that he is not seeking to become president of the country, but admitted that he has political ambitions. He said, “I have a political project, but not to become president of the republic, but to save the country.” When asked if he would seek help from foreign governments to end Assad’s rule, Khaddam replied, “I have not contacted anyone because I think that change must mature at home.”
Last week, Khaddam accused Assad of being a tyrant ruler of a corrupt regime and told the Al Arabiyah channel that Assad had threatened Hariri a few months before his assassination in a truck bomb explosion in Beirut on February 14. Members of the Syrian People’s Assembly accused Khaddam of treason for criticizing the president. Yesterday, Thursday, the government froze his and his family’s assets.
