The president of the foreign-based opposition coalition, Mouaz al-Khatib, said on Wednesday that he was ready to hold talks with representatives of President Bashar al-Assad outside Syria (in Turkey, Egypt, or Tunisia) if authorities released 160,000 detainees and renewed expired passports to Syrians outside the country. “I am prepared to sit down directly with representatives Read more
Continue ReadingNearly 300 opposition leaders from inside and outside Syria will be attending the Syrian Conference for Democratic and Civilian State to be held Monday and Tuesday, 28th and 29th January, 2013 in the Starling Hotel Geneva. Organizers of the conference complained that many activists and opposition leaders from inside Syria were denied visas. They accused Read more
Continue ReadingAccording to activists affiliated with the Syrian Monitor of Human Rights and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, a number of armed groups crossed over from Turkey to attack Kurdish neighborhood in Ras al-Ain/Sere Kaniye in north Syria. The attackers were identified as the brigades of Ahrar al-Umma, Ahrar Gowayran, Mishaal Tamo, Read more
Continue ReadingIt may be a long while before we know the details about France’s sudden intervention in Mali. After all, Mali’s armed forces lost control of parts of the country many years ago. Mali’s political leaders have asked for help many months ago. Yet, suddenly, France, with little warning, launched an aerial bombing campaign to push Read more
Continue ReadingBased on recent events, observers might be mystified by the seemingly unprincipled French involvement in regional and world crises. When the Tunisian uprising that jump-started the Arab Spring began, French leaders sided with the regime and prominent French politicians fell from grace after the revolution succeeded in removing Ben Ali. Then, France did not take any public Read more
Continue ReadingSyria Since the last disappointing meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria in Morocco, which was not attended by Secretary Clinton, diplomats have been active trying to find common ground for solving the Syrian crisis. Most notably, there has been a change of tone in the statements by the supporters of the opposition forces represented Read more
Continue ReadingLate last month, the leader of Ennahdha movement of Tunisia, Rached Ghannouchi started a world tour. He delivered several lectures and was interviewed by western media. In one of these interviews, he declared that “the Arab world is going through a transition phase which needs coalitions to govern, which brings together Islamist and secular trends… Read more
Continue ReadingKurdish Fighters Turkey found a formula for success, and then it lost it. When the Justice and Development Party took power in 2001, they promised economic growth at home founded on zero problems abroad. They were right in linking peace and stability in the region to economic development. That formula worked and it nearly brought Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* On October 31, I wrote, Who is the Syrian Opposition?. Less than two weeks later, a new coalition of opposition figures was born in Qatar, underscoring the erratic composition of the groups fighting to oust Bashar Assad from power. Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, Riad Seif, Suhair al-Atassi, and Mustafa al-Sbbagh The Syrian National Read more
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