Khaddam to Form Government-in-Exile: Sharaa to Testify

Khaddam is moving to form a government-in-exile, as-Seyassah reports below. Asad and Sharaa have been asked to testify before the Hariri investigators. According to ABC news, Syria has agreed that Sharaa will testify. Anyone interested in what I had to say on the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer can read the transcript of the show: SYRIA REFUTES INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM

Syria ready for UN team to meet minister
Syria has agreed to allow United Nations (UN) to interview its foreign minister over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, diplomats say.

Syria is still considering a request by the UN team probing the February killing to meet President Bashar al-Assad, but an interview with Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara was acceptable, the diplomats say.

"The request is being considered while other capitals are in contact with Syria on the same subject," a diplomatic source said.

"As announced before there is no objection that the committee meets Mr Shara, that position did not change."

Asked to comment on the report, a Syrian Foreign Ministry official told Reuters in Damascus: "Syria has not informed the (UN) committee of any decision since the request has been made".

A senior Saudi official is expected to discuss in Damascus the issue of Syria's cooperation with the investigation. The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt held talks on the matter in Saudi on Tuesday.

The United States has warned Syria that its top officials should submit to the interviews in line with a UN Security Council resolution that called for it to comply fully with the inquiry or face unspecified "further action".

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, on a visit to Lebanon, also urged Syria to cooperate with the inquiry and hinted at further action if it did not.

Interview with Syrian FM in Mehlis probe "a positive step" -- US Kuwait News Agency

U.N. Asks to Meet Syrian Leader in Inquiry on Beirut Killing
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
Published: January 3, 2006

LONDON, Jan. 2 - A United Nations team investigating the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has asked to interview the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and the foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, in the inquiry into the killing.

The request compounds pressure on the Syrian government just days after a stunning public attack on the president by his former vice president raised new questions about whether the government had been complicit in the assassination.

A spokesman for the United Nations investigation told The Associated Press on Monday that the commission had sent a request to interview Mr. Assad and Mr. Sharaa, among others, but would not specify when the request was made. It was not immediately clear whether the request had any connection to the allegation by former Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam on Friday that Mr. Assad threatened Mr. Hariri's life months before the assassination.

Mr. Khaddam will also be interviewed, the official said. The commission also requested an interview with Mr. Assad over the summer as the investigation got under way, but was rebuffed.

"This puts Bashar in a very embarrassing position because it means that he could actually become a suspect," said Joshua Landis, a historian at the University of Oklahoma and author of the Web site SyriaComment.com. "It comes down to this: will he accept to be questioned, or will he face sanctions? If he refuses now, it will be hard for Bashar's defenders to vote against any sanctions in the Security Council."

The investigation of the truck bombing that killed Mr. Hariri and 20 others concluded, in a preliminary report last month, that the attack on Feb. 14 was the work of high-ranking Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officers. Syrian officials, including Mr. Assad, have repeatedly denied involvement and have recently gone on the offensive to discredit witnesses in the investigation and raise doubts about the validity of crucial evidence in the report.

But the latest disclosure by Mr. Khaddam, who has been in Paris since he resigned in the summer, adds a surprising twist. In an hourlong interview shown Friday on the pan-Arab satellite news channel Al Arabiya, Mr. Khaddam, who became vice president in 1984, said that Mr. Assad had threatened Mr. Hariri and that no Syrian authority could have made the decision to kill Mr. Hariri on its own.

The Syrian president warned Mr. Hariri "in extremely harsh words" not to interfere with Mr. Assad's plan to extend the term of his Lebanese ally, President Émile Lahoud, Mr. Khaddam said. He quoted the Syrian president as telling Mr. Hariri in 2004 that he would not allow a new president in Lebanon. "I will crush whoever attempts to overturn our decision," he quoted Mr. Assad as saying.

But he stopped short of specifically accusing Mr. Assad of making or participating in the decision to assassinate Mr. Hariri. "I have a lot to say, but Syria's interests require me to keep quiet for now," he added.

Mr. Landis said: "This may seem like the smoking gun some were hoping would come up, and it certainly puts the fear of God into the Syrians. Here's somebody from within the intimate palace grounds, who actually knows what was going on, speaking."

In recent days, Syria's governing Baath Party has stripped Mr. Khaddam of membership and joined a unanimous vote in Parliament calling on the government to try him for high treason as a result of his accusations. Syrian news broadcasts have continued to show tirades by Syrians against Mr. Khaddam, accusing him of treason and chastising him for trying to harm the country.

"Khaddam has joined the band of enemies who are targeting the country and its attitudes," the Baath Party said in a statement. "The National Leadership has decided to dismiss Khaddam from the party and put him on trial."
[end]

Khaddam Plans Government-in-Exile
Arab press roundup for Jan. 4:
AMMAN, Jordan, Jan. 4 (UPI) --

Kuwait's as-Seyassah daily reported Wednesday that former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam was working towards forming a government-in-exile after he spoke out against the Syrian regime in a televised interview from Paris. The pro-government paper quoted unidentified sources close to Khaddam as saying he has started consulting with former Syrian military officers who had defected to "end the bad situation, of which (President Bashar) Assad is responsible." It said the former officers accused Assad of having "abandoned them and took unilateral control of power along with his brother Maher and brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat." The sources told the Kuwaiti daily the government-in-exile would bring Khaddam to a leadership role in a transitional period in which "a democratic, pluralistic and modern system will be set up." They said this system would respect human rights and draw up a new constitution calling for free general elections "for a democratic parliament and government." They added that a new president will be elected by the people for a four or six-year term.

--

Syria's state-owned al-Thawra daily said in a commentary that Khaddam's statements in his lengthy interview with al-Arabiya channel at this time will have serious repercussions, but that they are also an opportunity to fight corruption. The paper said this provided a "golden opportunity" for President Assad to uproot corruption within Syria and in its relations with Lebanon. "It is an opportunity for the clean hands to wipe out the front and back lawn of the regime," the paper argued. It asked why the members of Syria's National Assembly and ruling Baath Party, who blasted Khaddam and accused him of treason and corruption following his televised statements, did not take into consideration that people in Syria and Lebanon "have been asking where these people were when Khaddam and his likes were shoveling money from the people, and then he talks about half the people looking for food in the garbage." It asked: "Where were their voices and stands from all this corruption?"
[end]

Firas Maksad or the Eurasia Group sent me this commentary:

Khaddam's high profile and strong ties to world leaders, particularly King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Chirac of France, may allow him to present himself as viable alternative to Assad rule, which has been unpopular with the US and EU but has remained for lack of alternative. Alongside his diplomatic ties, Khaddam can appeal to sectarian bases. As a Sunni in a country dominated by a Shia Alawite minority, Khaddam could reach out to the widely popular, but banned,
Muslim brotherhood. This group is considered to be the only real popular alternative to the Assad administration, but without Khaddam's secularizing face would be unacceptable to the US and EU.

Unconfirmed reports have also surfaced that former regime strongmen, including former Chief of Staff Lt. General Hikmat Chehabi and former Head of Military Intelligence Lt. General Ali Duba, are in close deliberations with Khaddam. Both men were associates of his under the administration of the late Hafez Al Assad, but had been swept aside since Bashar Assad's ascension to the Presidency. They are believed to still wield influence within Syria's armed forces, although the degree of their influence remains unclear.

While the U.S and France are not actively seeking regime change, the rise of a viable opposition could prove useful, providing them with much needed leverage at a time when diplomatic pressure is being exhausted. In light of Washington's failure to manufacture viable opposition for several years, Khaddam's defection will come as a welcome development.

The more immediate challenge facing Syria in the coming weeks will be the 2 January UN request to question President Assad about the Hariri assassination. While there has been no official response yet, vocal denunciations by parliament members associated with the administration foreshadow a likely rejection. A rejection will allow the special commission probing the killing to refer Syria to the Security Council, which could then institute punitive measures including targeted sanctions against administration officials. Although general sanctions are very unlikely, such actions may be enough to cause an already jittery Syrian public to flee the local currency and could force further devaluations. The pound has already lost more than 10% of its value since the Hariri assassination in February and unconfirmed reports of capital flight emerged in November.
[end]

Interview with Syrian FM in Mehlis probe "a positive step" -- US Kuwait News Agency

Syria's ruling Baath Party (A.P. Jan. 1) stripped the country's former vice president of membership and joined parliament in demanding his trial on a charge of high treason, the official news agency SANA reported Sunday.

The Daily Star reports:

President Chirac said: "Syria must answer the demands" of the international inquiry into Hariri's killing. He had talks with his visiting Egyptian counterpart Mubarak on Wednesday over the Syrian issue.

"Everything that destabilizes Lebanon will end up turning back against Syria," warned the president, who was a personal friend of the slain Hariri.

The French president also described Syria's situation as "very serious" while speaking on the sidelines of a New Year's press conference.

"The request for an interview [with Asad] is being considered while other capitals are in contact with Syria on the same subject," a diplomatic source said. "As announced before there is no objection that the committee meets Sharaa. That position did not change."

Mubarak met with the Saudi king on Tuesday over the Syrian crisis, whereby they urged Syria to act now "to prevent any harm" coming to Damascus, said Soleiman Awad, the Egyptian president's spokesperson .

The two leaders also underlined "the need to preserve the historic links between Lebanon and Syria."