TUNISIA: Prominent Syrian opposition leader Haitham al-Maleh says his group will turn to UN General Assembly to circumvent Russian or Chinese attempts to veto action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime

Record ID: 280273

  • Title: TUNISIA: Prominent Syrian opposition leader Haitham al-Maleh says his group will turn to UN General Assembly to circumvent Russian or Chinese attempts to veto action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime
  • Date: 24th February 2012
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (FEBRUARY 23, 2012) (REUTERS) LOBBY OF HOTEL IN TUNIS NEAR LOCATION OF 'FRIENDS OF SYRIA' CONFERENCE SYRIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND MEMBER OF OPPOSITION SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL (SNC) HAITHAM AL-MALEH, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS AL-MALEH AL-MALEH SPEAKING TO OTHER SYRIAN OPPOSITION MEMBERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND MEMBER OF O
  • Embargoed: 10th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia, Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4Y5UYNM8SRCM4IRW32PK0Q6MS
  • Story Text: As world powers prepared on Thursday (February 23) to attend a Friends of Syria conference in Tunis, a prominent Syrian opposition leader said the group would turn to UN General Assembly to circumvent a Russian or Chinese veto of action against the Assad regime.
    Speaking to Reuters in Tunis on the eve of the conference, Haitham al-Maleh, a human rights activist and member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said that his organisation would act as the umbrella for all opposition groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, and they would press the international community to isolate the Assad regime, with or without the help of Russia or China.
    "First of all, we want from them to say the National Council in Syria is the umbrella, the political umbrella for the opposition, for the revolution." al-Maleh said, "The second step, we want to make the Assad regime alone, by pull out all the ambassadors from Damascus and push out all the Syrian ambassadors from outside. We want to go even to Russia or to China to say this is a very big mistake. If you continue cooperate with the regime, the regime will fell down anyway." he added saying the UN must act if they had 80 countries in agreement.
    Over the past few days amateur video has appeared on social media websites purporting to show government troops deserting the government and swearing to defend the nations citizens from the brutal crackdown, and al-Maleh said that he believed a much larger number of soldiers would soon defect to the opposition, enough to over throw Assad.
    "In my opinion, after a not very long time we will see 100,000 separated from the army. And this, it's a enough to thrown out the Assad the regime," al Maleh said.
    "Not only to throw them out, to catch them, put them in jail if that's possible. But in my opinion the Asad and his family will face the same end of Gaddafi."
    He also went on to say that be believed the UN would help enforce a no-fly zone which will provide a safety corridor to enable the distribution of much needed humanitarian aid.
    "It [the no-fly zone] will happen through the United Nations. After the second step. The second step, if the veto, if Russia and China use the veto, the file will go out, go to the United Nations [General Assembly] again at that time the United Nations can take a big step about [no] fly-zone about the other things, about safety corridor, something like this."
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