Opposition Conference in Damascus: a Step towards National Reconciliation
The opposition conference of the Syrian ” homeland ” , held on September 26th in Damascus , was attended by several numbers of opposition members, including some dissident ‘officers’ as parties to the dialogue. Some of them announced giving up dissidence and putting their capabilities once again for the sake of ” Syria ‘s unity” and work to maintain ” reform , rather than destruction and sabotage”, in the interest of the Syrian people, as they stated.
Addressing the conference, lt. Col. Khalid Abdul Rahman al-Zalem , said as a representative of the military council in the southern region of the so-called ” free army”: “We reject to have a Syrian carrying arms against his Syrian brother….we think about the outgrowth of our beloved country and found out that alleviating the suffering of our people requires,” asserting the need for the efforts of all the faithful and loyal in Syria, and for cooperation with the Ministry of National Reconciliation, voicing rejection to blood-shedding and to the killing of innocent people.
He also stressed that: “the road is open for the rest of the comrades in arms to return back, because the solution in Syria is political, and we must all agree on what Syria and the Syrian people need , through maintaining reforms, no destruction.”
Another redeemer, the former commander of armed groups in Aleppo, Yasser al-Abed, said addressing the conferees: ” I support your efforts to resolve the crisis, and I am with you for achieving that. They wanted to burn our country. The target is our homeland, and for that I gave up arms.”
However, this was the second meeting for the opposition political groups inside the Syrian homeland, which brings together more than 30 political parties and trends.
The opposition event was licensed under the new ” law of parties”. It was attended by forces that have an established history in the country, such as the communists, the Syrian nationalists, in addition to other powers , demanding peaceful change .
What is striking about this conference was that a number of participating forces announced its opening after they were excluded from another conference held by the ” inside opposition” , called ” the rescue conference” , when the ” national coordination body”, considered these forces ( which participated in the September 26th gathering ” as not an opposition, rather more inclined to be part of the ruling party, and therefore it has no place in the opposition team.
Such a situation, pushed these excluded sides to react solely and convene another conference to debate an initiative embarking on finding a political solution in the country and attempting a peaceful change , so as to avoid the country further death and destruction and more economic and human losses , as suggested in statements issued by these sides.
“The national dialogue conference “, organized by the national Syrian opposition, was held in Damascus on September 23rd. It was under the title “the National conference to save Syria”. It was based on “rejecting outside interference ” and ” non shedding of the blood of the Syrians”. The conference was held in line with the convening of the UN general Assembly’s annual meetings . This was in an attempt to bring about parity between the West , which sponsors ” the Istanbul council ” and others, a group categorized as ” enemies of the Syrian people”, by pushing the Syrian national opposition to launch a program that opens the way for a political process which Moscow sponsors large part of it. The conference was attended by delegations representing 20 Syrian political delegations, the Russian and Chinese ambassadors in Damascus , representatives for the Egyptian, Algerian and Indian embassies and EU diplomat accredited in Damascus.
According to the Russian ambassador in Damascus Muhammadov :” the main objective of the conference is to put an end to the violence, immediately by both the government or the armed groups, while the second goal is to transform the current confrontation between the government and the opposition into the course of a political solution.
Certain components of the Syrian opposition opted to boycott it. These included the official in charge of the national coordination aboard Haitham al-Manna, despite his assertion that he will personally participate in the conference. Manna justified the boycott that ” his return to Damascus needs protection” which ,for the time being, isn’t ensured.
The aim of the conference was to save Syria of what is ” plotted against her , in the service of foreign goals and objectives”, through a course of a political solution to the crisis which provides for achieving Syria ‘s people ‘s aspirations and relieve Syria of its 18th- month ordeal .
In a suspicious timing , two days before the convening of the conference , two leading figures from the opposition ” Syrian national coordination board” were abducted by unknown terrorist group after returning back from Beijing , according to a statement by the Syrian Ministry of Information . But, the defendant in the eyes of the Chairman of the Coordinating Body Hassan Abdel Azim was ready. It was ‘the regime “‘, whom he accused of «standing behind the disappearance of opponents. It is clear that the purpose behind the abduction was to «thwart the conference” , which was also boycotted by the state-building Movement» led «LouayHussein, who believed that the conference would be no more than an oratorical festival . He added: «the conference does not offer a clear plan of action, expressing his belief that« real solutions and field results will be absent from the conference for reasons including what he called the ” tyrant regime” which still exists.
In concurrence with these developments, Ankara announced that it moved military vehicles towards the border with Syria, at the time, when Brig. General Mustafa el-Sheikh of the so called ” Syrian free army” said that his gunmen moved to inside Syria, in the hope of establishing a ” self-ruled buffer zone” , that can provide the opposition with anti-aircraft weapon, according to the Foreign policy magazine on its August 31, 2012.
Another Opposition conference was organized by the Parisian opposition, led by the so called ” “the Syrian national Council” on September 22nd. According to the ” new statesman ” magazine , member of the said council Burhan Ghalioun has eulogized what he called the ”revolution” led by the council , but he did not stop demonizing the Syrian regime , which he alleged of ” launching a war on its citizens”, accusing the council of ” working aimlessly.” Meantime, two members of the conference Suheir Atasi and Brig. Akil Hashim called for foreign powers intervention in Syria , while other topics of the conference revolved on Sectarianism and the Kurdish question.
Meantime, both Russia and China reiterated their just position, that they would not allow the issuance of a UN resolution to impose a no-fly zone in Syria. As the United States seems, busying itself with Presidential elections, unwilling nor ready for an adventurous military risk, as the Turkish military junta is not either willing to do so.
Tomader Fateh