{"id":6991,"date":"2012-06-24T07:01:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-24T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/?p=6991"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:44:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T12:44:45","slug":"brussels-ribal-al-assad-addresses-the-european-parliaments-mashreq-delegation-on-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/brussels-ribal-al-assad-addresses-the-european-parliaments-mashreq-delegation-on-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Brussels: Ribal Al-Assad addresses the European Parliament’s Mashreq Delegation on Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ribal Al-Assad, Director of the ODFS, this week addressed the Mashreq Delegation in the European Parliament on the crisis in Syria and called for a peaceful united opposition, which works for a peaceful inclusive and democratic transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ribal made the following speech:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Herve Ladsous, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations was asked whether Syria was in a state of civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yes, I think we can say that,” he answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is with nothing but sadness that I can confirm I have been predicting this for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years ago I was fortunate to spend time with Antonyia Parvanova \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and Sajjad Karim immediately after he and this delegation had visited Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the first opportunity I had to discuss with your members my vision for freedom, democracy and the rule of law in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and to set-out my fears of what might be about to unravel \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 long before the arrival of the over-optimistically labelled \u2018Arab Spring\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have travelled the world speaking on this subject \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and as recently as three months ago \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 my worries that the conflict was becoming a hub for a more apocalyptic regional war were met with various degrees of scepticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambassador Chinmaya R. Gharekhan\u2019s article in Monday\u2019s Calcutta Telegraph \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 set-out the three-tiered nature of the conflict \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 internal, regional and global \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 paraphrasing a speech I gave in Delhi three months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tentacles of war are already spreading across Syria\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Pais reported last week how Spanish jihadists have travelled through the eastern provinces of Turkey where they coordinated with young Moroccans looking to join the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera in Tripoli confirmed an attack on a British consulate vehicle in Benghazi \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 with leaflets found at the scene from the Brigades of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 an Egyptian extremist currently serving a life sentence in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordanian militants have been attempting to cross-over into Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 whilst the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas has reported that scores of Kuwaitis are pouring into Syria to fight alongside the Free Syrian Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is, of course, depressingly familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq acted like a magnet for Islamist extremists from across the region and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it important for the world to recognise the mistake of treating this as a case of a \u2018Good\u2019 in the form of the opposition against the \u2018Evil\u2019 regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the regime has continued to behave barbarically \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but the opposition has become a catch-all for violent Islamists and Jihadists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SNC opposition sits at the heart of this problem \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and its own sectarian agenda has led directly to its lack of unity and success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It claims to represent the Syrian people \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but 45% of those people represent ethnic minorities \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 many of whom remain loyal to the regime despite everything \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and who make up a significant number of the one million refugees currently taking flight from the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is no coincidence, because, as I am sure Mr Labwani will illustrate in more detail \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 the SNC\u2019s raison d\u2019\u00eatre is diametrically opposed to the best interest of so many of our people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week we read reports of 9,000 Christians from the city of Qusayr seeking refuge after an ultimatum from Abdel Salam Harba, a local military chief of the armed opposition,.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, a \u00acreport by Dam Press claims that opposition forces are being trained inside Turkey to use chemical weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These weapons have been acquired from Libya \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and it is claimed that they plan to commit atrocities inside Syria to pin on the regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes this even more sickening \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 is that we are not just dealing with rogue extremist groups \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but with state-backed terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have gone on record many times quoting Jihadist rhetoric on State Sponsored TV Saudi-owned WISAL and SAFA satellite TV stations \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 exhorting fundamentalists to violence \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 particularly against Alawite and Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Thursday\u2019s fatwa banning Saudis from fighting in Syria without government approval \u2026 clerics have deliberately incited sectarian hatred whilst investing petro dollars to accelerate the cross-border arms flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously I have focused on Saudi and Qatari influence and funding \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but in the last few days, Tunisian Imams have been asked to tone-down similar vitriol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result has been a growth in the size and extremist nature of the opposition armed forces \u2026 who have already been cited by Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new report in Germany’s leading daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, claims that the dreadful Houla massacre was actually committed by anti-Assad Sunni militants against Alawi and Shia minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, William Hague spoke in Westminster of \u201ccredible reports of human rights abuses and sectarian attacks by armed opposition fighters \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and terrorist groups affiliated to Al Qaeda committing attacks designed to exacerbate the violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This endorsed much older claims made by James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a terrifying prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we should not be misled into understating the strength of the regime \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 which has significant international backing of its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syria\u2019s \u2018alliance of shared enemies and goals\u2019 with Iran is tightening \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and on the 8th June, Brigadier General Massoud Jazaeri of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard noted that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA conflict in Syria will engulf the region and its main victims will be the people of Syria themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zionist regime and the interests of the enemies of Syria are all within range of the resistance fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No wonder the world is worried about Syria\u2019s arsenal of chemical weapons falling into the hands of extremists \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 particularly when she believes that arsenal is the largest on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the regime is not just backed by Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia and China, whose alliance grows ever stronger (as witnessed in joint naval operations in the South China Sea) \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 are posturing over Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 not least as a proxy battleground for their rivalry with the US and NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six days ago they announced that they want Iran to be part of Kofi Annan\u2019s proposed \u2018contact group\u2019 for Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and this followed their much-publicised UN veto \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 April\u2019s arrival of a Russian guided-missile destroyer at the port of Tartus has been followed by the arrival of further naval ships this week \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 in addition of Moscow\u2019s supply to Syria of three million gas marks, shore to sea and surface to air missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anatoly P. Isaykin, the general director of Russia\u2019s state-controlled arms provider, Rosoboronexport commented on Friday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not a threat, but whoever is planning an attack should think about this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Vitaly Churkin, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 has slammed Saudi Arabia and Qatar for funding and supplying weapons to armed Syrian opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This powerful pro-regime axis spreads directly from Damascus, through Tehran and onto Moscow and Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opposition, focused around Ankara \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 draws support from the Gulf States and Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan has recently attributed the United States with boosting its nuclear security \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and has hosted large-scale NATO war games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A senior Free Syrian Army representative met last week with the US ambassador to Syria at the US State Department complete with strategic military maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And meanwhile, Turkey and Iraq accuse each other menacingly of sectarian rhetoric \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 as the international fault lines reflect the deeply ingrained Sunni-Shia schism across the Arab World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could be argued that these global machinations make the SNC an irrelevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only hope for my country is an inclusive, peaceful opposition \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 working on behalf of all our people \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 with an end goal of democratic representation for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But neither my own Organisation for Freedom and Democracy in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 nor the National Democratic Council of Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 received an invitation to any of the three Friends of Syria conferences \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 despite increasingly urgent requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can only hope that the new leader of the SNC, Abdul Baset Sayda \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 with his Swedish citizenship and Kurdish background \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 will herald a new approach and start to work alongside the democratic opposition \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but I fear that cosmetic change will not change the SNC\u2019s essence \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 particularly as he has previously been criticised by Kurdish groups for marginalising their interests within the SNC in favour of those of the Muslim Brotherhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be fascinating to see what he can achieve in the final two weeks of his allotted month of change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I am sure Mr Labwani will testify \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 the SNC has a history of appointing leaders to create a liberal fa\u00e7ade \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and I fear that this is just another example …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… and yesterday\u2019s reports of the formation of a new ‘Joint Action Committee inside Syria confirm that the SNC is ceasing to hold sway amongst Syrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JAC\u2019s founder Hussein Sayed put it in a nutshell:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not believe that the Syrian National Council is able to be the leadership of the opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the polarisation of Syria and the region continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilary Clinton met the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu last week and suggested that \u201cthe time has come for the international community to unite around a plan for post-Assad Syria.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could not agree more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who will represent the 45% minorities within our population in the new regime?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who will maintain law and order?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who will oversee the transition to democracy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say with certainty that it will not be the SNC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we have seen to the cost of so many countries in the region, regime change is the easy part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is what follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British foreign office now advises its citizens not to travel to Libya \u2013 much of which is lawless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Egyptian people have been left with a choice between Ahmed Shafiq, a Mubarak general and Mohammed Morsi, representing the political front of the Muslim Brotherhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not to say that I do not yearn for change in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I condemn the regime and its recent well-publicised massacres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regime is corrupt, conflicted and violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the only hope for Syria and it\u2019s peaceful majority is a peaceful transition rather than a violent revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Annan plan has failed so far \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 but despite the withdrawal of UN observers it is not yet dead …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… and Monday\u2019s call from Presidents Obama and Putin for an “immediate” end to the conflict was a positive sign …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… as was the Russian President\u2019s statement that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRegime change, if it happens, must happen only by constitutional means …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… peace comes to the country and bloodshed stops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diplomacy must be given further opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 fears that a military approach will result in “havoc” \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 as it would lead to aiding and abetting of terrorism across the entire region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could not agree more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace is a long-shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a peaceful and united opposition provides Syria\u2019s only chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ribal Al-Assad, Director of the ODFS, this week addressed the Mashreq Delegation in the European Parliament on the crisis in Syria and called for a peaceful united opposition, which works for a peaceful inclusive and democratic transition. Ribal made the following speech: Last week, Herve Ladsous, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations was asked whether […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meetings-political-engagements"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6994,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6991\/revisions\/6994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}