07 Feb 2012 By Tariq
Alhomayed If the Tunisian foreign ministry says it will not
invite the Syrian National Council (SNC) to the
upcoming "Friends of the Syrian People" conference,
while both Russia and China will be invited, then the
question here is: Who will this conference actually
benefit? Or, why was this event not called the
"Friends of al-Assad" conference in the first place?
How strange for the Tunisian Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Rafik Abdessalem, to say that "there will
certainly not be an official SNC representative" at
the Friends of the Syrian People conference,
indicating that the relevant authorities had
"discussed the subject". He added that "each thing
[will come] in time", hoping to soon see the formation
of a Syrian opposition with "real representation". The truth is that it is not fair to talk about the
Syrian opposition being fragmented, especially in
light of al-Assad's criminal dictatorial regime that
has ruled for over forty years, via father and son,
but the question is: Who united the Iraqi opposition
before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, other than the
American Zalmay Khalilzad in London? Who would have
united the Libyan opposition were it not for the
French and the Qataris? Let us not forget that prior
to the fall of Gaddafi; Abdel-Fattah Younis was
assassinated, in what did not seem to be an act of
vengeance as much as it resembled the killing of Ahmed
Shah Massoud, i.e. the removal of a key figure from
the political scene in preparation for a new phase.
The Tunisian conference is meant to support the
Syrian revolution and send a clear message to the al-Assad
regime, not the opposite. Inviting the Russians and
Chinese is tantamount to emptying the Tunisian
conference of its contents, and this is al-Assad's
forté. The conference scheduled to take place in
Tunisia should not serve as a supplement to the
Security Council, attended by Moscow and Beijing, but
rather it should be a conference making decisions in
the interest of the unarmed Syrians, not only to stop
the killings, but also to initiate the transitional
phase, as per the desire of the Syrian revolution that
has been adopted by the Arab League. So, it seems there is a desire today to hold a
conference for the "Friends of al-Assad", inviting
Moscow, Beijing and Beirut, some Arab League
officials, and even Cairo, and they can hold this
wherever they want. However, the Friends of the Syrian
People conference must invite the SNC first and
foremost, fully recognizing it of course, as well as
those countries active and willing to end the
suffering of the Syrians and put an end to al-Assad's
crimes, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, UAE,
Jordan, and the Europeans such as France, Britain and
Germany, in addition to America. This is in order to
carry out real decisions and actions that are felt by
the unarmed Syrians, especially those who have been
subjected to a devastating bombardment over the past
two weeks, namely the people of Homs, Daraa and Idlib.
As I have explained, the Friends of the Syrian
People conference must produce decisions and practical
steps to provide the Syrian opposition with all types
of support, including weapons and the imposition of
secure humanitarian corridors, as well as taking
possible steps to exert diplomatic efforts, whether in
the Security Council again or outside of it. This is
in order to put an end to the al-Assad era, and to
ensure that the courts can pursue those who have
committed crimes against humanity in Syria, in
accordance with the recent Arab resolutions. This is what is required from the Friends of the
Syrian People conference, and any gathering that does
not adopt such measures must be called the Friends of
al-Assad conference! Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq
Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that
position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also
completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's
degree from George Washington University in Washington
D.C. He is based in London. Comments 💬 التعليقات |