"The Syrian Opposition Gather in the US," by Joe Pace

Joe Pace attended the meeting of the Syrian Opposition across the Potomac in Northern Virginia at the Crystal City Marriott this weekend. It was organized by the Syrian National Council in the US, in cooperation with the Ahrar Movement and the Syrian National Council in Canada. I believe Joe was the only non-Syrian American to attend. He wrote this exclusive report for "Syria Comment." Thank you Joe, our intrepid man on the spot.

"Syria Opposition Meeting In Washington DC, January 29-30"
By Joe Pace
For "Syria Comment"
January 31, 2006

The conference, organized by the Syrian National Council and the Syrian Democratic Assembly of Canada, kicked off Saturday morning with speeches from prominent opposition figures who couldn’t attend, including Haythem al-Maleh (founder of the Human Rights Association of Syria), Najati Tayar (one of the founders of the Committee for the Revival of Civil Society) and Kamal al-Labwani (head of the Liberal Democratic Union who was arrested after returning from DC in November).

The conversation topics were human and women’s rights in Syria; coordination between the internal and external opposition for democratic change; strengthening dialogue with other Arab nations.

The most important moment came on the second day when the five recently release Damascus Spring prisoners and Suhar al-Attasi (head of the al-Attasi forum) made a conference call from Syria to address the Washington attendees. Former MP Riad Seif said referring to Syrian expatriates, “those outside of Syria are part of the Syrian people and there must be as much cooperation between us as possible.” Another former MP Mamum al-Homsi said “we need you to build Syria and to save the country.” The endorsement of coordination with expatriate groups by such prominent voices is going to weaken the contingent of the Syrian opposition that opposes any assistance from the West. An oft-repeated message throughout the conference was that expatriates need to make use of their proximity to elected officials and lobby for their respective governments to support human rights.

By most accounts, the conference was a success. The internal opposition figures came largely to scout out the opposition-in-exile since many activists in Syria remain skeptical about its agenda. I witnessed a pleasant surprise among all of them; one remarked that the most conservative Muslims at the conference were more enlightened and committed to democracy than many moderate Muslims in Syria. Others said that this meeting enhanced their faith in the Syrian opposition in North American and that they were convinced that further cooperation was crucial to pushing reform in Syria.

Six people from Syria participated: Samir Nashar who heads a liberal party in Aleppo; Jihad Masuti who is on the administrative committee for the Jamal al-Atassi forum; George Katan…..; Amar Qurabi who is the press spokesman for the Arab Organization for Human Rights; and Baheya Maradini who is a correspondent from al-Elaph (the website which is blocked in Syria because its main beat is the opposition). None of them wore fake nametags as reportedly happened at the Paris conference and none shied away from the cameras.

Opposition gatherings have a reputation of being hijacked by petty disagreements, clashing egos, and recriminations, but several participants expressed their pleasure at the cordiality and productiveness of this conference. “When I was in Germany for a meeting of intellectuals, nothing got accomplished because we couldn’t even bring people to sit down at the same table and talk to one another,” said one participant from Syria.

In fact, the only mudslinging came from a non-participant, Farid Ghadry, the president of the Reform Party of Syria who split off from the Syrian National Council last September, accusing the executive committee of being “Islamists loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood.” According to a story by the New York Sun, he impugned the Council’s credibility by pointing out that the father of one of its members, Husam ad-Dairi, was a Ba’thist and ambassador under Saddam Hussein. He also accused Husam of associating with Saddam’s two sons during his youth.

I had the following conversation with Husam ad-Dairi to clear up the accusations. (I requested an interview from Farid, but he declined.

Husam: Ghadry did not split off from the group because we are Baathists or Islamists. He split off because he was not willing to be part of the group; he only wanted to be a leader. He wanted to start a Syrian government in exile with 19 people in Washington DC. Who does that represent? So we opposed it. We said that we would not accept any attacks on religion. Many of us want a separation of religion and politics, but the Syrian National Council is a neutral assembly—it’s supposed to be a gathering of groups where everyone can discuss their viewpoint. We will not attack another opposition group, even if it has a religious orientation. It’s funny though that he should accuse us of being Islamists. I, for example, represent a liberal, democratic part.

Pace: What was your father’s relationship with the Iraqi Ba’ath party and your relationship with Saddam’s sons?

Husam: I left Iraq for the last time in 1988. For the last year and a half, I was not aloud to exist in the same vicinity as the sons because I had a personal conflict with Udday Hussein. This was an order by Saddam Hussein himself. As for my father, he was the Ambassador to Switzerland and he resigned in 1991 because he opposed the invasion of Kuwait. He never returned to Iraq.

Abdu ad-Dairi’s [the father] history is an open book. He stood against the Ba’ath party as it was under Saddam. If we want to talk about fathers, how about we open the book on Farid’s father? I’d like an open conversation about that. [he is referring to the fact that Farid’s father still has connections with the Syrian regime]

Of course, Mr. Ghadry, who heads the Reform Party of Syria is no novice at mudslinging. According to Riad at-Turk, Mr. Ghadry tried to secure his support but Riad refused. A month after an interview was published in which Riad called Ghadry’s analysis of the opposition “nonsense” and said that he had “absolutely no support” in Syria, Ghadry published an op-ed in the Washington Times calling Riad—one of the most liberal, vocal advocates for democracy in Syria—a “Stalinist.”
[end]

On the opposition:
Ammar Abdul Hamid, who participated in the conference wrote this summary on "Amarji."

Concern Mounts on Syria As Opposition Gathers - January 27, 2006 - NY Newspaper... The conference, to be held this Saturday and Sunday across the Potomac in Northern Virginia at the Crystal City Marriott, will gather about 100 activists against the dictatorship of Bashar Assad, drawing opposition leaders from America, Canada, France, Germany, and inside Syria. According to organizers, the summit - sponsored by an umbrella organization, the Syrian National Council - is meant to address, among its principal topics: cooperating with the West in order to bring about a peaceful democratic transition; highlighting and ending the human rights abuses of the Assad regime, and prompting the various parties of opposition operating in exile to "get together and get to know each other."

In phone interviews yesterday, Messrs. Aljbaili and Ghadry expressed concern and disappointment about their non-participation and the divide in the reform movement, tracing it to their opposition to a Baathist or Islamist Syria.

See this interview with Riad Said.: An Nahar Exclusive: Interview with released former Syrian MP Riad Saif (An Nahar) -1/2006. It has been translated, and is one of the three free translated articles offered by MidEastwire.com each day. This is an important new service. Check it out.