Syria Comment: Syria opposition meeting in Washington DC

Syria Comment (faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/index.html) reported that "The conference, organized by the Syrian National Council and the Syrian Democratic Assembly of Canada, kicked off Saturday morning with speeches from prominent opposition figures who couldn't attend, including Haythem al-Maleh (founder of the Human Rights Association of Syria), Najati Tayar (one of the founders of the Committee for the Revival of Civil Society) and Kamal al-Labwani (head of the Liberal Democratic Union) who was arrested after returning from the USA in November."

Syria Comment reported: The conversation topics were human rights and women's rights in Syria; coordination between the internal and external opposition for democratic change; strengthening dialogue with other Arab states. The most important moment came on the second day when the five recently released political prisoners and Suhar al-Attasi (head of the al-Attasi forum) made a conference call from Syria to address the Washington attendees. Former MP Riad Seif said, referring to Syrian expatriates, that "those outside of Syria are part of the Syrian people and there must be as much cooperation between us as possible." Another former MP Mamum al-Homsi said "we need you to build Syria and to save the country. "

Syria Comment said: The endorsement of coordination with expatriate groups by such prominent voices is going to weaken the contingent of the Syrian opposition that opposes any assistance from the West. An oft-repeated message throughout the conference was that expatriates need to make use of their proximity to elected officials and lobby for their respective governments to support human rights.

Syria Comment reported: By most accounts, the conference was a success. The internal opposition figures came largely to scout out the opposition-in-exile since many activists in Syria remain skeptical about its agenda. I witnessed a pleasant surprise among all of them; one remarked that the most conservative Muslims at the conference were more enlightened and committed to democracy than many moderate Muslims in Syria. Others said that this meeting enhanced their faith in the Syrian opposition in North American and that they were convinced that further cooperation was crucial to pushing reform in Syria.

Syria Comment reported: Opposition gatherings have a reputation of being hijacked by petty disagreements, clashing egos, and recriminations, but several participants expressed their pleasure at the cordiality and productiveness of this conference.