Syrian National Coalition will adopt the principle of interoperability, rather than elections in coalition, according the prominent Coalition member, Abdul Baset Saida said in an interview with "Zaman Alwasl.
The coalition met on Thursday under
pressure to name a new leader and prove to its Western and Arab backers it can
be trusted with advanced weapons to beat back a concerted offensive by Bashar
al-Assad.Reuters quoted.
The Coalition Executive Bureau member
assured Coalition decision to avoid any nominations or elections would raise
cracks among the coalition ranks. Also, he
denied any internal differences among coalition members. ''What we have is no
more than differing views''.
The Kurdish and former president of
Syrian National council emphasized about an urgent solution, saying: "If we
are unable to reach a consensus on the name, we will resort to the election,
and we hope that it won't happen.''
The selection of new coalition
President will be delayed tomorrow, ''Today we discussed the reports which had
come from Syria, '' Saida revealed
''There is no doubt that the development of the fighting field
is the first obsession, gaining more victories By the Assad regime on the
ground will affect any political representation in the future.
The opposition's inability to unite
has made Western countries reluctant to send weapons, even as Assad's forces
have seized the initiative in recent months and Washington and its European
allies have vowed to aid his enemies. Reuters reported.
The Syrian National Coalition has
been without a leader since last March when Mouaz al-Khatib made a surprise
announcement that he was stepping down as president of the coalition. Although
he gave no reason at the time, he later talked of interference by international
and regional actors; the interviewer named these as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The
coalition refused al-Khatib's resignation. Khatib was still considered the
"primary voice" of the Syrian opposition, and the following day the
Arab League granted Khatib the position to head the coalition's delegation to
the Arab League. He continued in office for almost another month before
confirming his resignation on 21 April.
The United States and Russia, Assad's
main weapons supplier, have proposed a "Geneva 2"
peace conference but their deadlock over Syria has meant little progress on the
diplomatic front.
After steady rebel gains in the first
two years of civil war, Syria became stuck in a bloody stalemate lasting months
until a June government offensive that led to the capture of a strategic border
town. Momentum now looks to be behind Assad.
Syria's two-year uprising against
Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than four decades, began as
peaceful protests but became militarized after an army crackdown.
The rebels remain strong in the north
of Syria, but Assad has been slowly reinforcing his forces there in the hope of
retaking territory. Fierce fighting is raging around several cities in central
Syria and near the capital.
Assad's counter-offensive led the
United States to announce last month military support for the opposition, a
move it said would restore the balance of power ahead of any peace talks.
The 27-month-long
conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives, the Human Rights Observatory
announced Wednesday. The war has also
driven 1.7 million refugees to seek shelter in
neighboring countries and is turning into a proxy conflict for Sunni and Shi'ite
Muslim powers in the Middle East.
In relevant development, Actor Jamal
Suleiman had resigned from National Coalition, 'Zaman Alwasl Arabic' reported.
The New member of latest-expanding
list has delivered a message to the former President of coalition, Sheikh Mouaz
al-Khatib on Wednesday.
''Decisions
of the coalition doesn't comply with convictions'' Suleiman addressed.
According to "Zaman Alwasl"
source Suleiman wasn't satisfied with the Coalition agenda and framework. He
preferred to stay out of it.
The national Coalition was expanded
its seats with more 8 members in May including Michel Kilo,
Farah Atassi and Jamal Suliman.
It's worth mentioning that Zaman
Alwasl was the first news outlet publishing suleiman nomination for Coalition.
Coalition short History
At its creation in November 2012 the
National Coalition elected Moaz al-Khatib as its president, Riad Seif and
Suheir Atassi as vice-presidents and Mustafa Sabbagh as secretary-general.
The coalition has a council of about 63 members,
including 22 members from the Syrian National
Council. Ghassan Hitto is the prime minister of a provisional government for
Syria that is being formed by the coalition.
On 24 March 2013 Moaz al-Khatib made a surprise
announcement that he was stepping down as president of the coalition. Although
he gave no reason at the time, he later talked of interference by international
and regional actors; the interviewer named these as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The
coalition refused al-Khatib's resignation. Khatib was still considered the
"primary voice" of the Syrian opposition, and the following day the
Arab League granted Khatib the position to head the coalition's delegation to
the Arab League. He continued in office for almost another month before
confirming his resignation on 21 April.
The main aims of the National
Coalition are replacing the Bashar al-Assad government and "its symbols
and pillars of support", "dismantling the security services",
unifying and supporting the Free Syrian Army, refusing dialogue and negotiation
with the al-Assad government, and "holding accountable those responsible
for killing Syrians, destroying Syria, and displacing Syrians.
Reporting by Lma Shammas -Editing by
Mohamed Hamdan
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.