The Syria Monitor

NSF Activity in the US (11/6)

On October 20, The New York Sun reported that the National Salvation Front (NSF) was planning on opening an office in Washington. The report added that representatives from the NSF had met with National Security Council Officials on August 24.

Two NSF representatives, Husam al-Dairi and Ammar Abdulhamid, met again with NSC officials on October 26. According to an NSF source, they discussed mechanisms of democratic change in Syria. (Arabic. Levant News, 10/27/06). The report added that the NSC officials said that the White House welcomes the opening of the NSF office in DC.

Moreover, an unnamed State Department official told UPI that the US administration does not mind the NSF opening an office in DC and that the US "is ready for dialogue with any Syrian gorup or party that respects the rule of law and the principles of democracy and the principles of peaceful and legal opposition." (Arabic. Levant News, 10/27/06).

The NSF's Abdel Halim Khaddam told AKI that the Front does not have any hang-ups about talking to the US or the international community as it is all in the interest of the Syrian people and its future. He also said he was not worried about how the NSF meeting with US officials might be used for regime spin or propaganda. (Arabic. AKI, 10/30/06). He added that the NSF is interested in making its case both in the international and Arab arenas.  He stressed that the NSF would continue its diplomatic activity  to explain the plight of the Syrian people, adding that the Front "welcomes the understanding of the NSF's goals by any foreign state, Arab or Western."

Khaddam was also received by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Khaddam, who confirmed the meeting took place, reiterated his belief that the regime is "neither reformable nor viable." (Arabic. Aljazeera.net, 10/22/06).

News Round-Up (8/29-9/1)

[Ed.'s Note: Due to the recent crisis in Lebanon, The Syria Monitor took a temporary back seat. Posting will now resume starting with quick round-ups from the last few weeks. Regular posting will then follow.]

8/29 - The Syrian authorities refused to allow dissident Michel Kilo to attend his mother's funeral (Arabic. AKI, 8/29/06). Kilo's lawyer told the press that the practice of allowing prisoners to attend their parents' funerals has been established for decades in Syria, but the authorities did not recognize it for Kilo. Kilo was arrested in May in the wave of arrests that targeted signatories of Beirut-Damascus Declaration, a document initially signed by 274 Syrian and Lebanese activists and intellectuals calling on the Syrian regime to correct its relations with Lebanon, by recognizing its sovereignty and independence and abiding by international resolutions. Kilo is facing charges of "weakening nationalist sentiment," "inciting sectarian and ethnic strife," "disseminating false or exaggerated news that undermine the state," and "defaming the head of state or the judiciary." (Arabic. Elaph, 8/29/06).

8/31 - Kurdish activist Abdel Hakim Bashar, member of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria's politburo (PDK-S/Al-Parti), was forbidden from traveling to Iraqi Kurdistan. (Arabic. Elaph, 8/31/06). This comes in a series of recent travel bans against activists in an attempt to isolate them from the outside world.

9/1 - Three Kurdish parties (Yekiti, Azadi, and the Kurdish Future Current), called for a sit-in on 9/7 in front of the Military Court in Damascus. The sit-in is to protest the prosecution at the Military Court of 49 Kurdish youth arrested last year for their participation in a rally demanding the truth behind the murder of Kurdish cleric, Sheikh Maashouq al-Khaznawi. (Arabic. AKI, 9/1/06). Khaznawi disappeared on May 10, 2005 and was found dead on June 1, 2005. His death is suspected of being the work of the Syrian intelligence services, as Khaznawi was making overtures to the Arab opposition and the Muslim Brotherhood.

9/1 - The Syrian opposition strongly criticized the speech given by Bashar Assad on August 15, where he attacked the ruling Lebanese Parliamentary and cabinet majority, the Lebanese independence movement, moderate Arab leaders, the US and Israel, and expressed support for Hezbollah. A statement by the Damacus Declaration groups criticized Assad's as inciting violence and inflammatory against moderate Arab and international parties. (Arabic. Elaph, 9/1/06).  It also called on the regime to cease interfering in Lebanese affairs. Furthermore, it noted the need for radical democratic change in public life in Syria, moving it from authoritarianism and repression to a law-based democratic system with equality, freedom and justice.

Similarly, the leading members of the National Salvation Front, Abdel Halim Khaddam (Arabic. AKI, 8/28/06) and Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni (Arabic. AKI, 9/1/06), both criticized Assad's speech and his reckless policies in back to back appearences on Lebanon's Future TV. Khaddam noted that it was the Assad regime's policy to bleed Israel through proxy war in Lebanon. Bayanouni meanwhile said that the intent to re-dominate Lebanon was "a priority for the regime." Both Khaddam and Bayanouni also expressed certainty that Assad was behind the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Bayanouni also sent messages to Syria's minority Alawites in an attempt to assuage their fears of democratic change in Syria. He said that it was unfair to call the regime "Alawite" as it a family regime, and the Alawites have had their share of injustice and repression like all Syrians. Both Khaddam and Bayanouni stressed their conviction that no civil war would erupt in Syria should the regime be toppled. 

Khaddam Open Letter to Baathists in Syria (7/9)

Former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam addressed "civilan and military" members of the Baath party in Syria in an open letter urging them to do their patriotic duty and "shift to the side of the people and contribute in the uprooting of a regime whose continuation poses a grave danger for the future of the country, its national unity, and its security and stability." (Arabic. "Free Syria," 7/5/06).

In the letter, his second since his defection, Khaddam told the Baathists they had two choices, "the choice of the homeland and the people, and another choice which places you on the side of tyranny and corruption." He attacked the ruling Assad family regime holding it responsible for the "paralysis in the state institutions," and for the "regime's repression of citizens," and for the "break up of national unity."

Khaddam warned the Baathists not to be "fooled by those who have a hold on power who tell you that the [Baath] party is the leader of society and the state, when you know full well that it is the ruling family and its security apparatuses who rule the state, and that the role of the party's institutions is merely to cover up for errors and deviances." He asked the Baathists, "are you responsible for the impulsive and adventurist political decisions which have brought great damage to the country? Are they the work of party leadership or the work of an heir who does not realize the danger his actions pose to the country?"

He further accused the regime of a series of political assassinations of Syrian and Lebanese figures, and claimed that former Syrian interior minister Ghazi Kanaan was murdered "because he knew the truths behind the assassination of Rafik Hariri, and he knew who killed the former Lebanese Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, and Kalam Jumblatt" and others, and because he knew "the secrets of the [Lebanese] al-Madina Bank scandal." He added that "the day of reckoning" for the regime is near, and called on the Baathists to help "in saving the country and liberating the people from the prison in which the regime has put them."

The National Salvation Front had included a call to Baath party members, civilian and military, in the concluding statement of its inaugural conference, inviting them to "join the ranks of the people in order to rid Syria of a corrupt and tyrannical regime."

Khaddam Comments on Assad's Statements (6/27)

Former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam replied to statements made by Syrian president Bashar Assad to the London-based daily al-Hayat in which Assad derided the National Salvation Front (NSF). (Arabic. AKI, 6/27/06).

Assad had claimed the Syrian authorities and public received the formation of the NSF "with ridicule." (Arabic. Al-Hayat, 6/26/06). In a call to AKI, Khaddam replied, "if it was received with ridicule, then why the blind reaction arresting hundreds of people?" He added, "Bashar Assad knows that the Salvation Front is a reality among the Syrian people, and knows the extent of its reach in society. The people is suffering from repression and persecution, and there are millions of unemployed and deprived people looking for salvation and a better life. This is why the Salvation Front has a significant popular weight. We are not claiming it monopolizes the public, but it is one of the opposition currents that draw people in Syria, and the polling boxes will determine the country's political color. The entire society is for change, and the wall of fear has begun to crumble bit by bit."

As for Assad's claim that the NSF was receiving international political and financial aid., Khaddam said, "the Front has not contacted any state, Arab or foreign, but many states and political and social powers around the world realize how bad the situation is in Syria and feel the need of the Syrian people to be free." He did however point out that the NSF has sent letters to member states of the UN Security Council explaining the situation in Syria, and requesting "interference in order to protect the Syrian people."

Most recently, the NSF sent a letter to the first international conference for human rights in Geneva. (Arabic. "Free Syria," 6/22/06). It had also sent a letter to the European Union calling on it to support the Syrian people.

In a recently released statement, the temporary committee of the Damascus Declaration (DD) reasserted its independence from the NSF, but added that any problems could be resolved through dialogue "in order to safeguard the unity of the opposition and in the interest of national democratic change." (Arabic. ME Transparent, 6/12/06).

Similarly, Hasan Abdel Azim, the spokesman of the National Democratic Gathering in Syria (a coalition of five opposition groups) and member of the DD temporary committee, said that despite his reservations and criticisms against him, Khaddam's defection was "the regime's problem, not the opposition's," and "the NSF does not concern us. It's the regime's problem." As for the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a member of both the NSF and the DD, Abdel Azim said, "we don't want to resort to procedures such as suspending or freezing their membership... The dialogue is ongoing ... for the sake of the unity of the opposition." (Arabic. Levant News, 6/16/06).

Back in April, another veteran dissident, Riad Turk, also said, "while we do not have to support Khaddam, we will not fight him on behalf of the regime," and thereby indirectly do the regime a favor. (Arabic. Elaph, 4/16/06). He added that the opposition was open to everyone, including Ba'athist defectors.

Reform Party Activity (6/27)

Farid Ghadry, president of the US-based Reform Party of Syria (RPS), testified on June 7 before the House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia.

In his testimony, which was posted on the RPS blog, Ghadry said that he "do[es] not believe that the Syrian opposition is mature enough to assume power in Syria," and that the RPS' "short term aim, as such, is to give up on the issue of regime change in Syria until the opposition unites."

Ghadry went on to accuse other opposition parties of behaving "like the Ba'athists ruling the country with a set of exclusionary policies, which are in conflict with real democracy." He applied this characterization to the Damascus Declaration groups, which he dubbed "non-existent," as well as to the National Salvation Front, which he described as an "unholy alliance."

He also mentioned prominent detained dissidents to "honor their work and lend them our full support," and called for the release of all political prisoners. He then said that the Kurdish movement inside Syria was "mature" and that the Syrian Democratic Coalition, a coalition of liberal organizations including the RPS, claims a rising popularity inside and outside Syria because it "has no history of corruption or atrocities against the Syrian people." He recommended the US and Europe "invite the 10 most prominent Syrian opposition leaders in the hope that they can unite and become a viable alternative."

Ghadry then posted a letter to  the chair of the Subcomitte, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, in which he asked a further amendment of the Syria Accountability and Lebanon Sovereignty Act (SALSA) to "prevent the US administration from supporting any present or past regime officials that participated in major decisions as Ba'ath Party Officials, and who were, or still are, involved in corruption," a clear reference to former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam, whom Ghadry called in his testimony "the ultimate corrupt official."

Ghadry made several policy recommendations and suggested amendments to SALSA to include forcing the Syrian regime to lift emergency laws, and rescind Article 8 of the Syrian consitution, which states that the Ba'ath party is the leader of the state and society.

Then on June 17 Ghadry met with Vice President of the US, Dick Cheney, at an AEI World Forum conference in Colorado. According to an RPS press release, Ghadry "took the opportunity to convey to Vice President Cheney the situation and aspirations of Syria's growing democratic opposition. Mr. Ghadry urged the United States to increase its support for democracy and human rights in Syria, and stressed in particular the importance of vigorously defending these activists inside Syria who have recently been the target of a systematic and brutal crackdown by the Assad regime."

Khaddam Interviews (6/6)

Following the first conference of the National Salvation Front in London, Abdel Halim Khaddam gave interviews to AFP and UPI. Here are some excerpts from Khaddam's interview with AFP (Arabic. Elaph, 6/5/06).

Asked about the means to be used to change the regime in Syria, Khaddam said: "There exists in Syria a state of tension and suffering first because of repression and injustice and  also because of poverty, hunger, and the economic crisis from which the country is suffering. ... There is popular pent-up tension, and there is fear and anxiety on the part of the regime, that is why it's using the security services to arrests citizens, especially intellectuals and writers, as it is in a state of fear of the domestic situation and the possibility of this situation quickly turning into a popular movement that would put it in a difficult position and lead to its downfall. The role of the National Salvation Front is to release this tension so as to reach the stage of civil disobedience, leading to the toppling of the regime peacefully. We will not resort to violence. ... We will not accept a military coup because we think that military coups have brought many disasters to Syria and other Arab states."

As for the Front's relations with other opposition forces in Syria, Khaddam said: "There are several organizations, and we are working on contacting these forces in order to unify everyone's efforts to make sure the change succeeds with everyone's participation. We will achieve this because we have common goals and the same motivations, and there are no contradictions between us as members of the opposition.

Khaddam was also asked about what the Front expected from the international community. He replied: "Our message to the international community is not to cover the mistakes of this regime and to help the Syrian people in confronting this crisis and getting rid of this tyrannical, corrupt regime which has lost both national and international legitimacy. Certainly we will work on explaining the situation in Syria for there to be a better understanding of this situation and in order to have a better movement towards supporting the Syrian people to get rid of this current crisis it's living in."

Khaddam gave another interview to UPI (Arabic. Al-Mustaqbal, 6/5/06). Here are some excerpts from that interview:

"Syria has two choices: the first is to continue with the current situation with the result being the end of Syria and the continued suffering of the Syrian people. The other path is to return to the people and build a new democratic system that adopts the principle of rotation in power through free elections. It would also guarantee the freedom of citizens, the freedom of society, and the freedom of groups and individuals ... and end the policy of isolation, discrimination, and ostracism."

Responding to a question about Iran's regional policy and its alliance with Syria, Khaddam replied,  "Bashar Assad is not a strategic ally of Iran, but only a strategic tool." And commenting on the demands for Hezbollah's disarmament, he said, "Hezbollah has committed a sin in joining the political process [while retaining its arms]. ...  [The unresolved status of the Shebaa Farms] has pushed other parties to ask why Lebanon should be held hostage to the policy of Bashar Assad or Iran."

Excerpts from the NSF Press Conference (6/5)

At the conclusion of the NSF conference in London, a press conference was held where Abdel Halim Khaddam, Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni, and other members of the secretariat general spoke to the media. Here are some excerpts from the press conference (Arabic. "Free Syria," 6/6/06).

Asked about the mechanisms of change and the issue of foreign intervention, Khaddam answered: "The Front's manifesto is clear: change must be from within and by the Syrian people. We will not invite any Arab or international power to interfere in the process of change. ... We will not drag ourselves or others into creating complicated circumstances in the region. Change will be peaceful and not through bloodletting or armed revolution." However, he said that the NSF would discuss these things in its institutions, not in the media, as publicizing them would cause harm to people inside Syria. He added that it is the people who will be leading the movement for change.

Khaddam stressed that "those who believe that change will lead to disturbances and instability are saying that we remain under authoritarianism and under economic hardship and unemployment, and that hundreds should remain in jail, and that freedoms should remain absent."

Responding to a question about sectarianism and the need to put at ease the Alawites and other sects and minorities, Khaddam said that the Front "is not sectarian. It represents the political currents that exist in Syria." As for the absence of Alawite names in the Front, Khaddam clarified that "there are Alawites in the Front, but out of concern for them and their families, their names were not publicized. When the temporary government is declared, it will include names from all the sects." He added, "The regime is trying to scare the Alawite community in order to hide behind it ... [but the regime's] persecution has included the Alawites."

Commenting on the same issue, Bayanouni said, "The regime is trying to incite civil strife and to give the illusion that the Alawite community is targeted." He added, "We don't follow the method of takfir (labeling people infidels)... The Alawites are our brothers along with all the sects that belong to Islam. ... The Alawites are our partners in the homeland. It's natural for the regime to spread fear in the community. Bashar Assad is saying 'either me or [sectarian] strife' in order to hide behind [the threat of] strife."

Khaddam added, "Every sect has its rites, and all are united by Islam. Muslims also complement Christians in the framework of national unity. ... There will be no [sectarian] strife, and the regime will go."

On the Kurdish issue, Khaddam said that it was discussed and decisions were made that would solve the problem. "We realize there is a problem and the Front will work on solving it."

Salah Badreddine, a Kurdish member of the NSF secretariat general, commented on the Kurdish issue and said, "Our desire was to see the conference adopt a number of the issues we raised, but since the conference is a coalition, and there were many reservations, we ended up agreeing on the common principles." He added, "I would have liked [for the conference] to support the the political process in Iraq and to support the federalist style of government in Iraq, but some of the brothers expressed their reservations, and so it did not appear in the concluding statement."

Asked about the right for self-determination, Badreddine said, "We are a front, and there are common agendas. Our common goal is democratic change in Syria and a new constitution that meets the ambitions of all the constituents of the Syrian people." He added, "Any people in the world, including the Kurdish people, have the right for self-determination." The NSF conference's concluding statement made reference to "the glaring injustice that has befallen the Kurdish citizens," and said that it should be addressed "within the framework of national unity and citizens' rights, as well as the  ability to exercise political, cultural, economic and social rights, like all the other elements and constituents of the Syrian people, as will be specified in the new constitution." (Arabic. An-Nahar, via "Free Syria," 6/6/06).

On relations with Lebanon Khaddam said, "the Front's manifesto made reference to Lebanon's independence and to the establishment of a relation based on equality without any form of interference. This is translated through establishing diplomatic relations."

On relations with other factions in the opposition, Bayanouni reiterated the commitment to the principles of the Damascus Declaration.  Furthermore, he said that membership in the Front does not restrict members from seeking other alliances so long as they do not contradict the Front's principles, and the Front "does not abandon the framework of the principles of the Damascus Declaration." He did admit to differences with some of the Damascus Declaration (DD) groups, confirming that the DD had nothing to do with the NSF. However both the NSF and the Damascus Declaration parties did agree that the current regime is not reformable, and therefore "change is the demand of everyone." The NSF has stressed in the concluding statement that it was "not an alternative to any national opposition group including the Damascus Declaration which the cornerstone of the national opposition movement." The statement also declared its solidarity with the political prisoners in Syria.

As for the Muslim Brotherhood's view of secular liberal parties and democracy, Bayanouni said, "We stressed in our ["Document of the National] Project [for Change"] on peaceful rotation in power and cooperation with others." As for democracay, Bayanouni added, "we are calling for it as a strategic, not a tactical, option. .. We have participated in Parliament and cabinets in the past."

As for whether there were plans to form a government in exile, Bayanouni said, "There is no intention to form a government. At a certain stage, in order not to have a power vacuum, it may be possible to form a government in cooperation with all the other parties." The NSF concluding statement suggested forming a transitional government with the rest of the national political forces for a maximum period of six months, "when the time is right." This government would adopt the 1950 constitution and would work within its framework until a new consitution was written. It would also abolish emergency laws and would return citizenship to those from whom it was stripped for political reasons.

NSF Conference in London (6/4-5)

The National Salvation Front (NSF), led by former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam and the head of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni, held its first conference in London on June 4 and 5 at the Dorchester hotel in London. The conference, which had invited around 50 opposition figures in exile, especially Kurds, Communists, and independents, and none from inside Syria (Arabic. AKI, 6/2/06), was attended by around 80 people according to al-Hayat (Arabic. 6/5/06), 75 according to The Times.

The purpose of the conference was for the NSF to declare its organizational structure (the general congress, the central committee, and the secretariat general), and to set its future policy and plan of action for regime change in Syria. The secretariat general is comprised of ten members: Khaddam, Bayanouni, Jean Abdallah, Bashar al-Aysami, Salah Badreddine, Zuheir Salem, Salah Ayyash, Najib Ghadban, Obeida Nahas, and Hussam al-Dairi. The NSF also launched a bilingual website (the English site is still under construction).

The opening session was broadcast live on Radio Sawa and covered by several Arab and international media (Arabic. "Free Syria," 6/4/06). Khaddam and Bayanouni both gave opening speeches. In his opening remarks, Khaddam said that Syrians have before them "a path that we must take to break authoritarianism and its regime so that the people could regain their right to self-determination and to choose their leaders," stressing that "there is but one choice and that is for Syrians to choose the path of change and democracy." (Arabic. "Free Syria," 6/4/06).

Acknowledging the difficulties that lay ahead, Khaddam said that these difficulties must be properly understood and then "we must work to overcome them." He emphasized the need to "break all the walls between us," and the need to "come out of these meetings with a clear picture and clear programs to convince the Syrian people that we are up to the task." He added, "The homeland has become a large prison and the people prisoners," and saluted all the political prisoners in Syria.

For his part, Bayanouni outlined three elements that the regime is using to buttress its position (Arabic. "Free Syria," 6/4/06). First is the manipulation of  popular Syrian sentiment through the exploitation of jingoistic nationalism and the notion of an external foe threatening Syria. Second is the manipulation of Arab public opinion with the regime presenting itself as Arab nationalism's last line of defense against foreign designs in the region. Finally, there is the message that the regime is trying to market regionally and internationally, which holds that the only choice is between the regime or chaos and civil war, and therefore the only option is to cut a deal with the regime.

Bayanouni said that the NSF aims to counter all these points with its plan of action. The NSF's efforts would focus on putting the message out in the media in order to reach the masses and to provide them with information in order to mobilize them out of the state of passivity through better communication between the opposition and the people. The media discourse would counter the regime's propaganda to the Arab public opinion by focusing on its tyranny, corruption, and its willingness to cut deals with foreign powers in order to remain in power. And finally, the opposition would intensify its contacts and relations in the region. It would also work to undermine the regime's claim that it is the only guarantor against chaos and civil war, and correct the stereotypical picture the regime is trying to present about the alternatives to its rule.

"We must work diligently to isolate the ruling gang on an official, popular, Arab, and international level, according to a carefully studied plan of action," Bayanouni said. He concluded by reiterating the NSF's commitment to working with the opposition forces, especially those under the banner of the Damascus Declaration.

At the end of the conference, the NSF issued a concluding statement which said that the NSF's "strategic choice is changing this regime which has lost all justification to continue and has incited conflicts in its Arab neighborhood." It called on the Syrians to "break the walls of fear that [the regime] has been building for decades," and called on the armed forces to "take on its national and historic responsibility to be the army of the people," asking them to "protect the homeland and the people, not the corrupt." It also addressed the security forces, "especially its officers who are being used by the regime to oppress citizens," and called on them "to stop the excessive execution of orders by a corrupt group," so that when the regime falls, they won't have to face accountability for their actions. Finally, the statement addressed members of the Baath party and invited them to "join the ranks of the people in order to rid Syria of a corrupt and tyrannical regime." (Arabic. "Free Syria," 6/5/06).

NSF Conference Next Week (5/29)

The National Salvation Front (NSF) declared that it will be holding a conference in London on June 4-5 in order to put forward its plan of action for peaceful regime change in Syria (Arabic. AFP via Elaph, 5/29/06).

A source close to Abdel Halim Khaddam told AFP that the conference "will include, alongside former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam and the head of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni, fifty Syrian opposition figures living outside Syria and belonging maily to Kurdish parties, Communists, and independents." No figures or parties from the opposition inside Syria will take part in the conference.

The Front will decide in the conference on a "comperhensive plan of action" to peacfeully change the regime in Syria, according to the same source. The source added that "the month of June will be an important stop," pointing out that the London conference "will take place a few days before the head of the [UN] International Investigative Commission into the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri submits his report to the Security Council in mid-June."

Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey & Upcoming NSF Meeting in Brussels (5/8)

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) followed its visit to Lebanon with another to Turkey, where the MB delegation (which also included a representative of the Syrian Human Rights Committee) met with representatives of civil society groups, political parties, and academics (Arabic. Levant News, 5/8/06).

The delegation participated in a sit-in (organized by a Turkish human rights organization) in front of the Syrian embassy and gave a talk and answered questions about the situation in Syria, namely "random arrests, missing people, refugees forced out of their homes, travel bans, Kurdish suffering, absence of public freedoms, and mock trials before the State Security Court."

The delegation then held a lengthy and widely covered press conference in Istanbul. It also visited with a number of Turkish human rights organizations and agreed with them to "support the human rights of the Syrian people."

They then met with heads of various Turkish parties and MPs at the Turkish Parliament. Reportedly, the Turks were shocked at the level of deterioration of the human rights situation in Syria having thought that Bashar Asad had brought about real change. They also rejected the regime's official PR campaign in light of its repression and abuse of human rights at home.

According to MB sources, some Turkish MPs promised to bring up the matter in Parliament, stressing "the need to condition the relation with the Syrian regime on its respect for the rights of the Syrian people and for democracy." Also, a Turkish human rights organization, Mazlum Dar, sent a letter to the Syrian embassy inquiring about the status of human rights in Syria, including the matter of Law 49 (which bans membership in the MB), but the embassy did not reply.

Ammar Abdulhamid dubbed the visit "quite a significant event," and commented on it in a recent post on his blog:

What is the significance of this event? Well, it comes as a prelude to the May 20th meeting of the National Salvation Front in Brussels, when the final formation of the Front will be decided and its basic mission unveiled. Even though no government in exile will be officially formed at this stage, the NSF is bound to behave as such in many ways, as its leaders plan to embark on a massive diplomatic effort to explain their cause to the world in the following months.

Indeed, Salah Ayyash, a member of the NSF, told reporters "we in the Salvation Front support the meetings that the delegation of the Syrian MB held with political and religious figures in neighboring states, as the group has a right to meet with various parties and explain its political vision as it relates to Syria and the region, and they will one day participate in the independent government in the new Syria." (Arabic. UPI via "Free Syria," 5/13/06).

Asked about why the meetings were confined to the MB, Ayyash responded, "the NSF has put forth its political program but has not yet formed committees and we hope that in the upcoming meeting we will form the political committee that will be responsible for contacting Arab players."

Ayyash also revealed that the NSF is looking at reaching the Syrian people through media outlets. He also said that the NSF is looking to open offices in various countries in the region, including Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, in order to be closer to the Syrian people. This matter will be presented once the Front's committees are formed and they start discussion with the various Arab states.

"The political committee which will be formed in the next meeting will initiate contacts to explain the point of view of the NSF on the process of change in Syria and the suffering of the Syrian people under the current regime in Damascus," the Paris-based Ayyash said.