In Doha today, Syrian opposition groups have finally taken
the first real step towards unifying. It has only taken them 20 months, 100,000
deaths and a million refugees to do it. Why? Because it has taken the Obama
Administration that long before they finally decided to put some effort into
it. At a time when so many opposition members have fallen back onto the habit
of brandishing their anti-American sentiments in order to prove their patriotic
credentials, it’s America’s intervention that finally helped us take our first
serious step towards achieving the long-desired and necessary unity. The world is
such a funny place, funny and cruel. Be that as it may, this was a good step in
the right direction, but will be good enough to stave off disaster? We don’t
have long to wait to know.
Sunday November
11, 2012
Today’s
Death Toll: 90. The Breakdown: Toll includes 10 children and 3
women: 35 in Damascus and suburbs, 18 in Aleppo, 14 in Deir Ezzor (most in Alboukamal),
12 in Idlib, 9 in Daraa, 1 in Hama and 1 in Homs (LCC).
News
Syria
bombards rebel area near Turkish border Most of the inhabitants of Ras
al-Ain, an agricultural town that has been Arabised under the nationalist rule
of President Bashar al-Assad's Baath Party from its Kurdish name of Seri Kaneh,
fled to Turkey when rebels captured the area in a push to seize control of
frontier regions from Assad's forces.
IDF
fires warning missile at Syria for first time since 1973 Army sends
message to warring factions after errant mortars from 18-month Syrian conflict
land on Israeli side of Golan Heights.
Israel
drawn into Syria fighting for first time Israel takes its first action
in Syria's civil war after a stray mortar shell hit a military outpost in Golan
Heights.
Rebels warn
Israel against Syria interference Free Syria Army says Israeli fire in
response to Syrian shell hit near northern border was meant to 'aid Assad's
criminal regime.'
UN urges restraint
from Israel, Syria after shelling Ban Ki-moon makes plea for calm after
IDF fires warning shot into Syria for first time since '73 war, Syrian shells
land in Israel.
UK
troops 'may be sent to Syria within months': Humanitarian crisis could force us
to act, says top soldier General Sir David Richards's comments come
after PM said he would consider military options to remove dictator Bashar al
Assad, Said international community would need support from people inside Syria,
British troops could provide food, shelter and medical supplies to refugees, Could
intervene during this winter when more lives are at risk.
Special
Reports
Despite the Syrian war, archaeologists
are hard at work at the site of an ancient city called Karkemish. The strategic
city's historical importance is long known to scholars because of references in
ancient texts. Despite the dangers, archaeologists say they felt secure during
a 10-week season of excavation on the Turkish side of Karkemish.
When Loubna Mrie joined the
revolution, she incurred the wrath of her father, an Assad loyalist.
Ammar Abdulhamid & Khawla
Yusuf: The
Shredded Tapestry: The State of Syria Today
Yes, electing a cleric to head the new opposition coalition might seem
like step backward. Indeed, some activists have expressed concern over the
precedence that this development will set for the future. But things Syrian, as
we all must have learned by now, are often not what they seem. Sheikh Mouaz
Al-Khateeb, a Damascene cleric and one of the main figures that led the early
revolutionary fermentation in the Damascene suburb of Douma and elsewhere, is
not only a moderate, but a figure who has long managed to bridge in communications
between secular and Islamist groups on the ground. His views on critical issues
such women and minority rights have also been reasonable enough to allow for the
possibility of actually reaching workable compromises that can satisfy both
Islamists and secularists. As such, he is a potentially unifying figure, and
his touch will be needed in the days and months, if not years ahead.
More importantly though is the fact that Mouaz will not be in it alone.
His deputies include Suheir Al-Atassy, another respected figure from the early
days of the revolution, a secular figure, and a staunch woman’s rights activist.
His other deputy is Riad Seif himself, the main figure behind the new initiative
for unification. The Coalition full name is Syrian National Coalition for
Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.
One brave in-country activist described the development on Facebook: Syrian
political culture dictated that we put a secular face on what is essentially an
Islamist council (i.e. the SNC under the leadership of George Sabra), and an
Islamist face on what is essentially a secular coalition. However, I wouldn’t
go as far as describing the Coalition as “secular,” if the list of 63 names we
have for its members is correct, then Islamists have one third of the seats. With
traditional and tribal elements occupying an equal number of seats, secularists,
including representatives of minority groups, are actually a minority in the Coalition.
But that’s to be expected, secularists in the strict sense of the word, have always
been a minority.
Indeed, we should not let our emotions blind us from the truth of it
all: in realty, Coalition membership is, for the most part, a virtual who’s who
list of the same tired and drab personalities that have plagued opposition work
since the beginning of the revolution. So, much work and many pitfalls lie ahead
for the new management. The selection of Mouaz, Suheir and Riad is only the beginning
of a long, complicated and traitorous process, including the formation of a
transitional government and of a military council to unite all major rebels
groups inside the country.
The SNC, or rather, the Muslim Brotherhood will continue to play a
tough game in the background pushing for greater representation and attempting
to manipulate the process. The SNC already have 22 seats, including all eleven
members of tis recently (s)elected Executive Committee. The Brotherhood also obtained
more seats for itself through people who were included in the Coalition not as
MB or SNC members but considered under the rubric of “national personalities” and
representatives of local councils.
Gulf States are said to have already recognized the National Coalition
and the Arab League will likely follow their lead. Embassies might be handed
over to the opposition soon as well, meaning the Coalition will have to start picking
its diplomats, a process that promises to turn into another cockfight.
The National Coordination Body has not been included in the new coalition,
and dialogue with the regime has been rejected a priori and made a condition
for membership.
Meanwhile, the streets of Syria will continue to move to a different
beat. The real decision-makers, rebel leaders and local activists, are not involved
in the Doha process, and should they decide to support, this will happen for an
interim period that will end when they decide
it’s time for it to end.
This is BBC’s take on
this development:
One source at the meeting told Reuters that
the SNC had agreed only under pressure and that it had been given a deadline of
10:00 (07:00 GMT) to sign up or risk being left out.
The new body had been proposed by Mr Seif
with the backing of the US, which had signalled its frustration with the SNC.
"We signed an agreement to create [a]
coalition of 60 members of the Syrian opposition," he said.
Delegates said the body would carry
representation for ethnic Kurds, Christians, Alawites and women. Of the 60 places,
22 will be reserved for the SNC.
More on Mouaz:
Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib,
who is 52, left Damascus for Cairo in July after several periods of detention
by the Syrian authorities.
As he signed the
draft agreement that formed the opposition coalition with Syrian National
Council head George Sabra, Mr al-Khatib called on the international community
to "fulfil its pledges", the AFP news agency reported.
Last month he
called for a political solution to save Syria from further destruction, arguing
that negotiation would not "rescue the regime" but enable its
departure with the least harm possible.
He had earlier
attempted to bring the conflict to an end and in an interview with Reuters news
agency in July said: "I want the Syrian people to remain as one
hand."
Video Highlights
Clashes in Mayadeen, Deir Ezzor Province, between pro-Assad militias
and rebels http://youtu.be/gLcg8nL3eW0
Meanwhile, the pounding of Deir Ezzor City continues http://youtu.be/6FdRfU_um0A
Scenes from the clashes in Harem, Idlib Province http://youtu.be/JwL8BK34pZI , http://youtu.be/-Y29ybPaw3A , http://youtu.be/V3Z9dEdz7Dk , http://youtu.be/ZzbpaxeL9qU Clashes took
place in Jisr Ashougour as well http://youtu.be/L2AVeaHRMNU
The pounding of Damascene suburbs continues, albeit rainfall led to a
decrease in intensity: Daraya http://youtu.be/QtvwNg7IEPw
Douma http://youtu.be/fqOSVZ1nMrg
Qaboun http://youtu.be/6_RMdCPEIWc
What about the FSA?
ReplyDeleteWhy is there no effort to recognize the shadow state the FSA leadership is building from the ground, by uniting armed groups and defected military units into a unified structure of command and coordination?
Why not work with the FSA to find an alternative to the MB?
Gen. Mustafa al-Sheikh, head of the Higher Military Council of the FSA has published a manifesto, according to the Daily Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9668169/Syria-leader-of-rebels-warns-they-might-turn-into-terrorists.html
He wants all rebel leaders to sign it.
He wishes this Manifesto could provide the framework for the next Constitution, "demanding respect for Syria’s unity and for human rights, especially the rights of prisoners."
Rather than build a new state apparatus from Istanbul and Qatar, why not build it from the infrastructure emerging on the ground?
It looks to me -- again, I'm new to this, I don't know much -- as if the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to finance and weaponize alternative gangs, in an effort to give them military parity with the FSA.
This creates rivalry among fighters, rather than unity. And resentment among the FSA leadership and the heads of its various councils. Even warlords such as Abu Issa and Jamal Maarouf spoke against that. And many defected military men.
The FSA has done the bulk of the fighting on the ground so far, but it has remained largely outside the Syrian National Council, and from I gather of Facebook, it does not plan to integrate into the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.
My question is not rhetorical. I genuinely don't know and am interested in your views here.
Am I wrong in thinking that the Syrian National Initiative wants to impose from above an alternative structure of command to the one that is being installed by the FSA from the ground?
Why are they doing it if it is to sponsor the MB rather than the FSA?
And yes, I know FSA units made pragmatic alliances with evil outfits such al-nusra. But I don't recognize this as damning. They're doing it where they are massively out-gunned and the prey of massive aerial bombings.
[Please forgive the poor quality of my English; I am French-Canadian. My name is Philippe Magnan]
Hi Philippe, I think, the next step will be to encourage the new Coalition to work on uniting rebels groups (FSA). This will not be an easy process, rebels, as you note, are wary of the Brotherhood for its machinations, and the Brotherhood will not give up. This is going to be more difficult than people realize.
ReplyDelete