Vice-president of the Syrian Coalition, Dima Moussa, said that the restoration of ties with the Assad regime will only serve the Assad regime and its allies, especially Iran. She pointed out that the declining Arab support for the rights and legitimate demands of the Syrian people as well as the latest policies of some Arab countries have enabled Iran to further extend its influence in the region. These countries want to restore ties with the Assad regime under the pretext of confronting Iran’s growing influence, she added.
“We were counting on continued moral, humanitarian Arab support for our people, especially in view of the continuation and even aggravation of the very reasons that prompted the Arab League to suspend the membership of the Assad regime and withdraw ambassadors from Damascus back in 2011,” Moussa said.
Moussa also said that the mass killings, torture, detention and all kinds of violations continue unabated as there has not been the slightest change in the behavior of the Assad regime.
“Human rights groups are now talking about renewed oppression and crackdown by Assad’s security forces in the areas that saw the reaching of forced reconciliation agreements with the regime,” Moussa said. She cited recent reports about the Assad regime’s acceleration of executions of detainees in its prisons.
“We are deeply disappointed because our counting on our Arab brothers stemmed from our common language, culture, religion and history. We hoped that they would have a different stance. Now we see some of them rushing to restore diplomatic relations with the Assad regime under the pretext of supporting the Syrian people, half of whom were displaced by the regime which also killed well over a million Syrians. Everyone knows that those who have been displaced from their homes will not be able to return to Syria should the Assad regime survive in power.”
Moreover, Moussa stressed that “the restoration of ties with the Assad regime will only serve Assad and his allies, especially Iran.” She warned that such move “will not only fail to curb Iran’s influence in the region, but will also serve as a lifeline for the Assad regime and enable it to carry on with its current behavior with the very Iranian support those Arab countries claim they want to confront. This move also risks bestowing legitimacy on the Assad regime’s survival in power despite the Syrian people’s rejection of such attempts.”
“The latest developments came as a result of the declining support for the revolution and which has enabled the Assad regime and the Iranian terrorist militias to gain more ground in Syria.”
“We have reached a stage where Russia and Iran are guarantors of negotiations after the international community and the Arab countries in particular have turned their back on the Syrian people. Such policies have also contributed to the deadlock in the political process in Geneva, let alone further emboldening the Assad regime and its allies to refuse to engage in political negotiations.”
Moussa underscored that the Syrian opposition will continue to defend the Syrian people’s demands for freedom and dignity, pointing out that the solution in Syria is only political one and in accordance with the international resolutions on Syria, most notably the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
