Jamous to Brahimi: FSA and Syrian Coalition Represent the People of Syria

The Secretary-General of the Syrian Coalition, Badr al Deen Jamous, said that “the joint task of the United Nations and the Arab League as understood by the Syrian people is to achieve their rightful legitimate demands and that they should be committed to neutrality at the very least” Jamous noted that “the recent efforts of Joint UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, called for dialogue with the regime-made “opposition” that participates in the government of PM Wael al Halqy. Syria, under this government, witnessed the worst military escalation and the use of chemical weapons and the adoption of starvation as a method of warfare.” Jamous also pointed out that “the legitimate representative of the Syrian people is adhering to all its demands and does not waive any of its rights in the military and political arenas.” Jamous expressed surprise and disappointment that “Brahimi, who is a representative of the Arab League, is not committed to the same stance of the Arab League which granted the seat of Syria in the Arab League to the Syrian Coalition, which also confirmed that the Syrian Coalition is the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Brahimi has failed to recognize the Coalition as such and continues to try to give equal weight to the regime’s manufactured fake opposition and the true and legitimate representative of the Syrian people.” The Secretary-General stated that “the Syrian people, represented by the Coalition and the Free Syrian Army, know that there will be no desirable results that may come out of any political solution that does not lead to democracy and justice in Syria, the aims that can only be achieved through Assad’s departure.”  He added that “the Assad regime puts obstacles in front of the possibility of reaching a political solution through Geneva II by refusing to recognize the rightful demands of the Syrian people for freedom and democracy, and with his refusal to go to Geneva II for the handover of power. This reveals that the regime does not believe in the basis of Geneva II, which is the application of Geneva I points, which clearly call for the formation of a transitional government with full executive powers. The Assad regime, supported by Hezbollah militias and sectarian militias coming from Tehran and Baghdad, are continuing military operations in all parts of Syria.” Jamous stated that the Assad regime created the humanitarian crisis in Syria and is now using it as a means to pressure the Syrian people to give up their legitimate demands for freedom and democracy and justice. He pointed out that the Syrian Coalition has adopted the statement of the London 11 Conference, which reflects their understanding of Geneva II and states that there is no future for Bashar Assad in Syria. Jamous’ statements came in response to comments by Lakhdar Brahimi that were given during a press conference in Geneva yesterday, in which he criticized the Syrian “opposition”, describing it as “having many problems and divisions, saying that it is working to establish unity and for the establishment of a convincing delegation to represent them at the Geneva II Conference.” Brahimi blamed the opposition for the delay in setting the date of the conference. Brahimi said he had hoped “that the date has been set for Geneva II, but this did not happen and this conference should be held before the end of the year because of the bad humanitarian situation, and that more than 6,000 people flee Syria every day.” Brahimi added that “we agreed with the Russians and the Americans that there will not be any preconditions to this conference.”