SYRIA: Opposition figures call Syrian regime to release political prisoners to try and build an atmosphere of trust between the authority and the opposition

Record ID: 280400

  • Title: SYRIA: Opposition figures call Syrian regime to release political prisoners to try and build an atmosphere of trust between the authority and the opposition
  • Date: 8th March 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MARCH 7, 2012) (REUTERS): LOUAY HUSSEIN, OPPOSITION FIGURE AND AND LEADER OF 'BUILDING THE SYRIAN STATE MOVEMENT' GETTING OUT OF THE ELEVATOR HUSSEIN TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LOUAY HUSSEIN, OPPOSITION FIGURE AND AND LEADER OF 'BUILDING THE SYRIAN STATE MOVEMENT' SAYING: "We want a first step from the regime in order to believe. Also
  • Embargoed: 23rd March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1IQLWN023J8K7BWII3X2FR7J2
  • Story Text: Top Syrian opposition figure and leader of movement 'Building the Syrian State Movement', Louay Hussein on Wednesday (March 7, 2012) urged the Syria regime to release all political prisoners as a first step in order to show good intention by the government.
    "We want a first step from the regime in order to believe. Also we want a group of a committee of mediators that helps Mr. Kofi Annan in his mission. This should be accepted by the authority to be as mediation with Syrian opposition and not with the International community. At least today, we want it (the regime) to release all political prisoners and stop following peaceful activists," Hussein told reporters.
    Hussein al-Awdat, a member of the Opposition Coordination Assembly, said an atmosphere of trust should be created between the authority and the opposition.
    "We said that dialogue needs real atmosphere; releasing the prisoners, allowing protests and finding trust between people and the authority. Then during the dialogue or the negotiations we can look for a method to transfer the regime from its current situation to a democratic regime", he said.
    Chinese envoy to Syria Li Huaxin who met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem earlier on Wednesday, told reporters in Damascus that Syria had welcomed a six-point Chinese plan to promote a political solution to the year-long conflict.
    At the United Nations, the five permanent Security Council members and Morocco met on Tuesday (March 6) to discuss a U.S.-drafted resolution urging an end to the Syrian government's crackdown on demonstrators, a text some Western envoys said was too weak.
    Russia and China, adamantly opposed to any Libya-style military intervention in Syria, have vetoed two previous draft measures that would have condemned Damascus and it is not clear whether the latest one stands any chance of success.
    According to a text seen by Reuters, the U.S. draft demands "unhindered humanitarian access" and "condemns the continued widespread, systematic, and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities".
    In another effort to stop the violence, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan plans his first visit to Damascus as joint envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League on Saturday.
    Diplomacy has yet to brake a conflict likely to have cost more than 10,000 lives: the United Nations says security forces has killed well over 7,500 people and Syria said in December that "terrorists" had killed more than 2,000 security personnel.
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