Syria opposition abroad seeks to form united front

LONDON: Syrian opposition figures living abroad are seeking to form a common front with activists inside the country to help put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's crisis-hit regime.

As Syrian security forces crack down with deadly force on anti-regime protests, opposition activists have met in Turkey and Brussels, shared a platform in London, will visit Moscow and plan a major conference in the US.

But the regime opponents abroad have a tough job ahead of them, both in linking up with anti-regime activists in Syria and in building their own unified resistance.

"It is unfair to expect us to have a unified opposition" following years of oppressive rule, says Najib Ghadbian, a Middle East expert at Arkansas University in the United States.

While there are many heavyweight academics and intellectuals among the Syrian opposition living outside the country, as a group they lack structure, an overall leader, or a coherent political programme.

They also recognise the revolt is essentially a youth movement inside the country. Ghadbian stressed that "the revolution is done by the youth", similar to previous uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

If the revolution succeeded, the young people would decide to hold "free and fair elections," he said.

But Ghadbian, who describes himself as a "trouble maker for the Assad regime," believes that opponents outside the country and those inside can "complement each other."

One way that regime opponents living outside have sought to get involved is by providing activists in Syria with the technology that has proved vital in driving the revolts across the Middle East.

Ausama Monajed, a British-based opposition figure, said he was putting his masters degree in "the role of Internet and ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in non-violent revolutions" to good use.

Along with others, he has managed to secretly get smartphones and modems into the country.

Despite the regime's fierce response to the popular revolt that erupted three months ago, with rights groups estimating that more than 1,200 civilians have so far been killed, Monajed is convinced the opposition movement will not be cowed.

"It is certainly a living, historic moment and there is no way back," the 31-year-old, a member of the anti-regime "Movement for Justice and Development in Syria", told AFP.

Ghadbian, Monajed and Middle East expert Radwan Ziadeh shared a platform this week at London think-tank the Royal Institute of International Affairs, as they seek to publicise the cause of a united front.

Anti-regime activists concede the opposition is composed of disparate elements, whose sole common feature is often their desire to rid Syria of the Assad regime.

But they point to hopeful signs, such as a major meeting in the Turkish coastal resort of Antalya at the start of June.

Some 300 delegates representing a broad spectrum of regime opponents, including tribal chiefs and members of banned political movement the Muslim Brotherhood, joined forces to hammer out a common position.

They demanded that Assad step down immediately, voiced opposition to a foreign military intervention such as that in Libya and called for free elections.

"After this, it is much more likely we have a unified opposition," said Ziadeh, who is an academic at Harvard University.

The next step came at a meeting in Brussels on June 5, where around 200 opposition activists announced the creation of a commission to evaluate rights violations by the regime.

While encouraged that their own movement is showing greater signs of unity, opposition activists are nevertheless frustrated at what they see as a lack of pressure from the international community.

"It is certainly not enough," Monajed said. "The failure to have a resolution condemning the regime at the (UN) Security Council is very disappointing."

European countries have circulated a draft resolution condemning the Syrian military crackdown but veto-wielding powers Russia and China are opposed to the move.

Regime opponents are placing much hope in a visit by an opposition delegation to Moscow, a traditional ally of Damascus. Monajed says the opposition also intends to "set up a big conference in America".

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011