The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) stressed the importance of the US role in preventing the normalization of ties with the Assad regime as it called for tougher sanctions against the regime and any party that normalizes relations with it.
Salim al-Khatib, member of the SOC’s political committee and the foreign relations committee, stressed that Bashar al-Assad cannot belong to the Arab world after it decided to act as a tool of the Iranian expansionist ambitions in the region.
Al-Khatib stressed that the person who facilitated the loss of Syria, killed thousands and displaced millions will never honor its agreements with anyone. He added that no party will be able to reproduce Assad after he had turned into a militia leader and a war criminal.
He pointed out that the SOC has launched a major political and diplomatic campaign in order to stymie attempts to normalize relations with the Assad regime as he thanked the United States for responding to those calls.
Al-Khatib pointed out that the SOC sent a letter to the United Arab Emirates and issued a statement denouncing its reception of Assad as a reward for his crimes against the Syrian people.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, on Wednesday told US lawmakers that her country will not support normalization efforts with Bashar al-Assad or rehabilitating him. She said she was “shocked” to see Assad welcomed by the UAE in March.
In her testimony to a session of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Syria, Leaf stressed that the US administration will not lift the sanctions on the Assad regime, nor will it change its position on reconstruction in Syria until real and lasting progress is achieved towards a political solution.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
