Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam stated in an interview with “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” that “the ballots cast in the Syrian elections have no value, and whoever chooses Bashar al-Assad or someone else will do so either forcibly or out of fear.” He pointed out that “these are not real elections, and everyone knows that, but Bashar al-Assad is eager to hold them in defiance of the world.”
Khaddam considered that “there are two fundamental parties responsible for the destruction in Syria, namely Russia, Iran, and the regime on one side, and the Arab community on the other.” He emphasized the crucial difference between those who kill or participate in killing and those who could have stopped or alleviated the killings. He mentioned that the Arab League, after six months of the uprising, thought of sending Nabil Al-Arabi to meet Bashar al-Assad.
Khaddam believes that “what is happening now in Syria brings to mind the beginnings of the Palestinian catastrophe.” He also noted a crucial point, stating that “Syria did not have extremists initially, and the Syrian people, by nature, are not extremists. However, there is a sense of oppression and abandonment by the world, which led many Syrians to turn towards extremism, in his definition, as a loss of balance in behavior.”
