More information has come out on the meeting held by the temporary committee of the Damascus Declaration (DD) to discuss its position on the Muslim Brotherhood after the latter's alliance with former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam (for the initial report, see here.)
Levant News focused on statements by some members of the temporary committee to the effect that since it is not a political party [it is a declaration to which different parties are signatories], it hja has no mechanism to exclude the MB from its ranks (Arabic. 4/7/06). Levant News hailed this as a refusal by the temporary committee to cave in to regime pressures, noting that the security forces have been summoning many of the DD sginatories and pressuring them openly to issue a statement expelling the MB. In fact, the security forces prevented the participants from meeting in Hasan Abdel Azim's office, as planned, fording them to meet elsewhere.
Aziz Dawoud, a member of the temporary committee quoted in the report, stressed that "the MB was not expelled or excised." He added, "we as the [forces of the] DD are not against Bayanouni or Khaddam. They are free to take their own positions if they so choose. However, we are not with the NSF [the National Salvation Front], since it differs in its principles and proposals with the DD." The DD thus seemed to reiterate its earlier assertions that it has nothing to do with the NSF, or the Brussels meeting last March (where the NSF was formed). "We were not consulted in any way, and we have nothing to do with the [Brussels] conference and what came of it," said Dawoud.
Dawoud went on to say that one of the ideas discussed in Friday's meeting was to present the MB with a choice in the future : "If they want to remain with us, there are specific conditions and that is the adherence to the principles of the Declaration." He pointed to a difference in vision between the DD and the NSF, as the NSF wants a temporary government, in contradiction with the DD. "If they want to remain with the DD they [the MB] will have to clarify their position in the future," he said.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti al-Siyasah (Arabic [PDF]. 4/9/06) quoted a statement to the Agence France Press by Hasan Abdel Azim, the spokesman for the National Democratic Gathering [a signatory of the DD], in which he took a sterner line than Dawoud, but essentially repeated the same message: "Bayanouni has justified his participation in the Brussels conference and the NSF by saying that he had sent us letters of consultation that never reached us. We have decided to send him a message to tell him that this is unacceptable and that the DD is not just a declaration of principles. It is also a standard of action that organizes [political] activism inside the country and brings together the internal political powers." He added, "Those who wish to work within the framework of the DD have to adhere to its set principles and its insitutions. Those who wish to establish other alliances have to choose between the DD and these other alliances." (See also Abdel Azim's statements to Elaph here. [Arabic, 4/7/06]. The Elaph report also quotes Abdel Majid Manjouna of the temporary committee of the DD as saying that there was no quarrel with the MB as long as they adhere to the principles of the DD and as long as they continue to work within its parameters.)
The report noted that Abdel Azim had said similar things to UPI earlier: "the DD is not simply a declaration of principles. Rather, it represents political powers and alliances, and national committees and forces. Therefore, anyone working within it should not seek other alliances before getting an approval from the DD."
Nevertheless, Abdel Azim rejected the implication of a split in the opposition saying, "the DD has unified the opposition inside and abroad and there are no splits whatsoever... The DD has made its choice and unified the ranks of the opposition, as well as its causes and its discourse," adding, "the Syrian opposition is now stronger and more cohesive than ever."
Finally, he said that the DD "represents a large segment of sympathizers on the street who are not necessarily members of its signatory parties." He added, "we represent the largest segments of the nationalist, leftist Marxist, liberal, and political Islamic movements." He did admit however that even though there are various individual Islamic figures and scholars under the Declaration's banner, each with their respective following, the MB was the only Islamic organization in the DD.
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