Dissidents may unite if committee reelected

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Syrian opposition members attend a press conference after Syrian opposition groups meeting in Istanbul. AFP photo

Syrian opposition groups have expressed their desire for unity, with some groups having set the deadline for re-electing the Executive Committee of the opposition group the Syrian National Council to three weeks.

“We prepared a protocol which foresees the re-election of the executive committee in three weeks time. If the Council members does not sign the protocol, we will quit from the declaration and we won’t accept them as the representative of the Syrian opposition,” Tariq El Saed, a Syrian dissident from the opposition bloc formed by five different opposition groups, told the Hürriyet Daily News on March 28.

Kurds walked out
Syria’s splintered opposition leaders announced they had reunited under the umbrella of the Syrian National Council on March 27, in a bid to show the world they could form a real alternative to President Bashar al-Assad. Early on in the talks in a seaside hotel, veteran dissident Haitham al-Maler and Kurdish delegates walked out, saying their views were not being heard. The opposition also came under pressure from the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told reporters in Washington that the opposition should promise to protect the rights of all Syrians in any political transition, Reuters has reported. However, the unity agreement came with a condition, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned. Syrian opposition groups have gathered together again on March 28 in order to discuss the performance of the National Council Executive Committee and to sign a protocol predicting the re-election of Executive Committee members in three weeks time.

Tariq al-Saed, a Syrian dissident from the Syrian opposition bloc formed by five different groups said: “We have a problem with the performance of the Executive Committee. Five or six people are dictating to the whole of the Council. We support it, but we have to reform the bloc.” The Syrian government said on Marrch 27 it had accepted Annan’s plan, but a number of opposition members dismissed al-Assad’s words. “He is buying time. It means more killing. He is playing games,” Adib Shishakly said.