Syrian mixed reaction to Khaddam as leader of opposition

The Syrian opposition has been moving to tighten the belt around the Syrian regime, as it welcomed former vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam's defection from the regime and his joining its ranks, on the ground this his defection serves its objectives which aim at introducing democratic change in the country, as this opposition alleged.

The spokesman for the opposition Democratic National Coalition, Hassan Abdul Azeem, said that all Syrian, Islamic, national, and leftist groups agreed to the Damascus declaration issued in October 2005 for a change and to move Syria from the "totalitarian regime to democracy and political pluralism."

In press statements, Abdul Azeem agreed with the observer general of the Muslim Brothers, Sader eddine al-Bayanouni, on the principle not to depend on foreign sides in order to topple the regime, but he stressed that the opposition welcomes only foreign political support, and not military interference possibilities or imposing economic sanctions on Syria.

While al-Bayanouni called in statements to al-Jazeera satellite TV on Khaddan to apologize for the crimes which he said he had committed during his being part of the rule, Abdul Azeem stressed that this very hoistory prevents Khaddam from assuming the leadership of the Syrian opposition and the Lebanese political groups which stand against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.