TURKEY: Syrian dissident declares new alliance of revolutionary forces opposed to continued rule of President Bashar al-Assad

Record ID: 280097

  • Title: TURKEY: Syrian dissident declares new alliance of revolutionary forces opposed to continued rule of President Bashar al-Assad
  • Date: 16th December 2011
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (DECEMBER 15, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SYRIAN DISSIDENT AND FORMER DIPLOMAT, MOHAMMAD BASSAM IMADI, AT NEWS CONFERENCE EMBLEM OF 'AL LEQAA' REPORTERS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN DISSIDENT, MOHAMMAD BASSAM IMADI, SAYING: "We said that we are -- or we constitute -- the majority of the groups, the revolutionary and political groups that l
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAESR4LZ4Q1N8NBQFNTZ326DAG7
  • Story Text: Syria's former enoy to Sweden, Mohammad Bassam Imadi, announced on Thursday (December 15) a new opposition group he described as an alliance of revolutionary forces against President Bashar al-Assad.
    Speaking at a news conference in Instanbul, Imadi said the new alliance had been agreed with the Syrian National Council, a foreign based opposition group, and would together represent all opposition against Assad.
    "We said that we are -- or we constitute -- the majority of the groups, the revolutionary and political groups that lead these revolutionary groups in Syria, inside Syria. We have managed after a long time and a lot of effort to unite all these groups under one umbrella, and we called it 'Al Leqaa' -- that's 'The Alliance', and we came here in order to be with the National Council as one body representing almost all the Syrians inside and outside within this council," he said.
    Referring to Samir Nashar, a member of the Syrian National Council, Imadi said the new alliance was evidence that opposition groups wanted to present a united front in the struggle against the Syrian government.
    "With the announcement of Mr. Nashar that we have been accepted within the Council, that is a sign that the council welcomes all the entities that are in Syria, that are willing to participate and to add to the efforts that are being exerted by the National Council to represent the Syrian revolution, the Syrian political new elite inside Syria," he said.
    Assad, 46, whose family from the minority Alawite sect has held power in majority Sunni Muslim Syria for four decades, is facing the most serious challenge to his 11-year rule.
    Demonstrations against the president started with peaceful calls for reform but quickly snowballed into demands for Assad to step down.
    A violent security crackdown has failed to halt unrest in the country which has turned bloodier in the last few months as defecting soldiers join armed civilians in the Free Syrian Army, which has fought back against the government in some areas, raising the spectre of civil war.
    Imadi said that, so far, Al Leqaa had had no contact with Free Syrian Army, though the Syrian National Council was communicating with them.
    "I am telling you, we have no contact now with the Free Syrian Army. The council has already established contact with Free Syrian Army. We simply announced our, let me say, our feelings, our emotions, our desires, our support for the (Free) Syrian Army. Whereas the council, the Syrian National Council has already established contact and they have contacts with them," he said.
    Despite the worsening economic crisis and a growing number of army defections, mainly among Sunni conscripts, Assad still has the loyalty of most of the army.
    Unlike in Libya, the rebels have secured neither high-level defections from the military or government, nor do they fully control any territory.
    The United Nations says the crackdown has killed 5,000 people. The authorities, who blame "armed terrorist gangs" for the violence, say 1,100 army and police have been killed.
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