Damascus to sue Rifaat al-Assad legally if he returns back

The correspondent of al-Jazeera TV in Damascus said quoting well-informed Syrian sources that Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of the late former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, is wanted by the judiciary and that legal measures will be taken against him in certain matters if he comes back.

However, the spokesman for Rifaat al-Assad, al-Harith al-Khayyer, said that Rifaat decided to return back to Syria from his exile in Europe after 20 years in order to continue what he called the national and political role.

The spokesman added that Rifaat, who presided over the united national coalition, has not proposed himself as a substitute for his nephew President Bashar al-Assad, but he considers that the situation in Syria is grave and needs to achieve national unity. The spokesman added that the date of the return back will be announced shortly.

In earlier press statements, Rifaat called for making general elections in Syria, amending the constitution to withstand challenges and risks which warn what he called of converting Syria into a new place for invasion and aggression.

He also called for the abrogation of special courts, guaranteeing the independency of the law, protection of political and economic human rights, rejecting any attempt to seek foreign support, underlining the need to preserving national independence. He by the end of February called for the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon.

Worthy mentioning that the late President Hafez al-Assad exiled his younger brother, who was in the post of the vice president in 1985, and issued a decision for desolving Saraya al-Difaa ( defense units) that Rifaat was leading. These units played the pivotal role in suppressing the Muslim Brothers group in Syria in 1982.