SYRIA: Meeting of political and intellectual figures in Damascus calls for formation of a national unity government

Record ID: 279886

  • Title: SYRIA: Meeting of political and intellectual figures in Damascus calls for formation of a national unity government
  • Date: 9th August 2011
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (AUGUST 8, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEETING OF NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INITIATIVE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FORMER SYRIAN INFORMATION MINISTER, MOHAMED SALMAN, SAYING: "Holding a national conference that forms a committee, based on a technique that is accepted by the authorities and the opposition, whose mission is to find the most successful ways to move, peac
  • Embargoed: 24th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA92LQJ7WQMUJHT3N48YNLP5KRV
  • Story Text: A Syrian group operating under the name, the National Democratic Initiative, called on Monday (August 8) for a national conference that would guarantee the peaceful transition towards a new regime that represents all Syrians.
    The group did not call for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, a key demand of many opposition figures and protesters.
    "Holding a national conference that forms a committee, based on a technique that is accepted by the authorities and the opposition, whose mission is to find the most successful ways to move, peacefully, to the new regime. The formation of a temporary National Unity Government that includes the whole spectrum of society," said Mohamed Salman, former Syrian Information Minister, reading a statement from the group.
    The meeting, attended by 41 political and intellectual figures, stressed that what was needed was a new national government.
    "It is not a caretaker government but a National Unity Government under the leadership of the existing President of the Republic," said Salman The meeting pointed to the cancellation of emergency rule and the release of political prisoners, decisions made by Syrian authorities.
    Most of the figures who attended the meeting are from the ruling Baath party and former government officials.
    On Monday, Kuwait recalled its ambassador in Syria, its foreign minister said on Monday, adding he would meet his counterparts across the Gulf to discuss "totally unacceptable" violence against Syrian protesters.
    The move came less than a day after Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah recalled his ambassador and called for an end to the Syrian government's bloody crackdown on a near five-month uprising.
    Al Arabiya TV reported on Monday that Bahrain had also recalled its envoy to Damascus.
    Assad extended a tank onslaught in Syria's Sunni Muslim tribal heartland on Monday, residents said, in an escalating crackdown on focal points of popular unrest.
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