EGYPT: Syrian opposition figures meeting in Cairo say they've agreed to form a transitional government in exile

Record ID: 276411

  • Title: EGYPT: Syrian opposition figures meeting in Cairo say they've agreed to form a transitional government in exile
  • Date: 31st July 2012
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (JULY 31, 2012) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE HELD BY THE 'COUNCIL FOR THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION' MEMBERS OF COUNCIL SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE, WITH SIGN BEHIND READING IN ARABIC: 'THE FOUNDING MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION' VARIOUS OF SYRIAN OPPOSITION FIGURES AND JOURNALISTS PANEL SEATED POSTER NEAR STAGE WHICH READS - 'THE HAWLA MASSACRE' (SOU
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA56MX7P5JAY6751MSWZ4FZ2O5
  • Story Text: Exiled Syrian politicians unveiled a new opposition alliance on Tuesday (July 31) and asked one of its members to form a transitional government in a challenge to the Syrian National Council (SNC), another opposition group that has said it will do the same.
    The launch of the "Council for the Syrian Revolution" at a conference in Cairo marks the latest effort by an opposition plagued by divisions to forge a political alternative to President Bashar al-Assad's rule, which is being challenged by an armed revolt.
    The group's representatives say they hope to operate from within Syria if the opposition fighters manage to hold on to the northern territories, in which they are currently battling forces loyal to Assad.
    Haitham al-Maleh said that he would work with opposition inside and outside of Syria to form a government.

    "At the end of the meeting, my brothers have tasked me with the foundation of a transitional government. and to start talks with the all the factions of the Syrian opposition. The present stage, as you know, is a critical one. This ruling gang will soon fall, God willing, and we do not want to find the country in a state of a political and administrative vacuum. And therefore the current stage requires the cooperation of all of the Syrian opposition factions inside and outside of Syria to form a transitional government," he said at a news conference in Cairo.
    Fighting in the Syria uprising has been focused in Aleppo, where the Syrian military has stepped up a campaign to drive rebels out of the city. Outgunned rebel fighters are facing much heavier weapons including helicopter gunships.

    "And so if the problem of Aleppo comes to an end soon, God willing, the whole northern region would have been completely liberated, whereupon we will all return to the nation and begin our work from inside of Syria," Al-Maleh added.
    Al-Maleh also said the new alliance would act as an alternative to the SNC, which he said "had failed to help the Syrian revolution".
    The new alliance would work to offer more help to rebels on the ground, he claimed.
    Al-Maleh resigned from the SNC in March, saying he had given up trying to make the group a more effective player in the revolt against Assad. Al-Maleh is a former judge and a long-standing dissident against the Assad family's four decades in power.
    There have been concerns outside Syria that the uprising may bring to power hardline Islamist groups, with recent reports suggesting some al-Qaida fighters are operating alongside the Free Syrian Army rebels.
    Opposition figure Mahmoud al-Sayyed Doughaim emphasized on Tuesday that the newly formed Council was fighting for a democratic, pluralistic Syria.

    "The Council of Syrian Revolution seeks to realize the following goals - that there will be civilian rule based upon the ballot that would fulfil the people's wishes. Secondly, realizing the goals of the Syrian revolution and to defend the people and their gains; deepening national unity and guaranteeing its protection and continuity; empowering the Syrian people to run their own public affairs, and to choose their own representatives, officials and to hold them accountable if they fail; and to continue to withhold confidence in them, this being a basic and legitimate right; deepening the principle of democratic participation in society in order to guarantee peaceful transitions of power, and to safeguard public and private freedoms including the freedom of opinion and of expression," he said.
    Western and Arab states have been urging the Syrian opposition to unite for months. While the SNC has been an international voice for the opposition, activists on the ground have complained that the exiled leadership has little connection to what is happening in Syria.
    The new alliance comprises 70 opposition figures from a variety of different political backgrounds.
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