President of the Syrian Coalition Anas Alabdah said that there are attempts to blackmail the revolution militarily and politically and to force the Syrian people into accepting the survival of Bashar al-Assad and the entire ruling clique as well as the preservation of the security and military institutions. He added that process for political transition is currently vague and lacks a clear timetable or an agenda for the transition.
“Thousands of displaced people and families of the victims and the wounded have not given us a mandate to sign off on surrender or defeat. They will not allow their aspirations for justice, equality and freedom to be defeated,” Alabdah said.
Alabdah spoke about “conspiracies being woven against the Syrian revolution, both on the military and political levels.”
“Foreign militias are flocking to Syria from Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran to fight alongside regime forces under aerial cover by Russia. There are attempts to compel the Syrian people to agree to proposals for a political solution that allows the ruling family to stay in power at the expense of the Syrian people’s aspirations,” Alabdah said.
Alabdah added: “There are also plots targeting the representation of the Syrian people in Geneva as some have invented the so-called opposition bodies in an attempt to distract from the real essence of the conflict, which is a struggle between the majority of the Syrian people and the authoritarian regime.”
Alabdah was speaking during an event on Sunday where a number of Palestinian-Syrian activists announced the establishment of the Free Palestinian-Syrian Assembly in the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
Alabdah welcomed the formation of the assembly, describing it as a step towards unifying the efforts of the Palestinian-Syrians who endorse the Syrian people’s demands for freedom in such a critical phase of the Syrian revolution.
“Damascus will always stand by the Palestine brothers in their struggle for freedom and justice. New Syria will not confiscate the Palestinians’ right to decide as was the case under Assad the father including his treatment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), his destruction of the Lebanese national movement, and his divisive polices in Lebanon and Jordan.”
Alabdah described the Palestinian-Syrians role as pivotal in shaping Syria’s future, adding that everyone in Syria including Palestinian-Syrians will have equal rights. He stressed that the Palestinian-Syrians are real partners in the future Syria.
According to its bylaws, the Free Palestinian-Syrian Assembly will be documenting and assessing human rights violations as well as material losses the Palestinian-Syrian community suffers in Syria.
The Assembly will also be working to achieve cooperation and coordination with local and international human rights and humanitarian organizations with the aim of establishing transitional justice and prosecuting regime officials and leaders of militias fighting alongside it. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
