"Syria allows opposition leaders to meet publicly in Damascus; Speakers insist on Assad giving up total control" by Anthony Shadid, New York Times / June 28, 2011
BEIRUT — Scores of opposition figures met publicly in Damascus yesterday for the first time since Syria’s antigovernment uprising began, with the officially sanctioned gathering underlining changes the rebellion has wrought as well as challenges ahead in breaking a cycle of protests and crackdowns that have left hundreds dead.
The gathering was remarkable foremost for its rarity — a public show of dissent in a country that has long equated opposition with treason.
But it also cut across some of the most pressing questions in Syria today: whether a venerable but weak opposition can bridge its longstanding divides, whether the government is willing to engage it in real dialogue, and whether it can eventually pose an alternative to President Bashar Assad’s leadership.
Seeing as I haven't seen another word since I'd say no.
The meeting offered no answers, but in speech after speech, participants insisted the three-month-old revolt could only end with Assad’s surrender of absolute power.
One of the organizers, Louay Hussein, said the meeting of 190 opposition leaders, unprecedented in its size, would explore a vision for “ending tyranny and ensuring a peaceful and safe transition to a desired state — one of freedom, democracy, and equality.’’
Smells like regime change to me.
The meeting was in the works for weeks, and though government officials had signaled that they would not oppose it, the leaders themselves spent days trying to find a locale in the capital that would set aside fears of government retaliation and host them. In the end, Syrian state television, long a tool of propaganda, covered the meeting.
I am SO SICK of AmeriKan media kettle screaming pot!!
Some activists abroad have criticized the gathering as suggesting that the government was willing to engage in dialogue and tolerate dissent, even as its army and security forces press on with a relentless crackdown that has deployed them from one end of Syria to the other.
The Local Coordination Committees, a group that has sought to speak on behalf of youthful protesters, was not in attendance, and has yet to make a public statement on the meeting itself, though it has refused dialogue as the violence continues.
That sound like a western front to me.
“They contacted me but I refused the invitation as long as the atmosphere is not right,’’ said Hassan Abdel-Azim, a veteran party leader and opposition figure in Syria. “What kind of dialogue can you have in the midst of a security crackdown?’’
Even some organizers — among them Aref Dalila, an economist, and Hajj Yassin Hajj Saleh, a longtime activist — decided at the last minute not to participate in the gathering.
“Unfortunately, what I have seen on television is a silly scene,’’ Saleh said by phone. “That’s my impression, so I guess I made the right decision.’’
Looks like US agents didn't attend.
But the meeting still drew some of the most prominent opposition figures in Damascus, men like Hussein, Anwar al-Bunni, and Michel Kilo, who have served time in prison for their outspokenness against one of the region’s most authoritarian governments....
In the meeting, convened at the Semiramis Hotel, dissidents went to lengths not to claim to speak for the protesters, whose demands have grown in intensity in past weeks.
“We are meeting here today to put a plan forward to solve the current crisis,’’ said Fayez Sara, an opposition activist. “We are not saying we are representing protesters. We are not angry at those who criticized us for holding this meeting.’’
So far, Hussein and others have said they will not enter into dialogue with the government as long as its forces persist on firing on peaceful protesters. But even they acknowledge that the crisis seems to be taking a dangerous turn, as the government grows more isolated, elements of an armed insurgency emerge, and the economy staggers....
And down goes Syria.
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"Senior Syrian official calls for move toward democracy" by July 11, 2011|Associated Press
BEIRUT - Syria’s vice president called yesterday for a transition to democracy in a country ruled for four decades by an authoritarian family dynasty, crediting mass protests with forcing the regime to consider reforms while also warning against further demonstrations.
Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa spoke at a national dialogue that opened yesterday, with some critics of the government in attendance. However, key opposition figures driving the four-month-old uprising boycotted the meeting, saying they refuse to talk until a deadly crackdown on protesters ends.
Those are the US agents!
“I hope that we will reach … transition to a pluralistic democratic state that enjoys equality for all citizens who participate in forming their own shining future,’’ Sharaa said at the start of two days of talks in the capital, Damascus.
His comments highlighted the extent to which the uprising has shaken President Bashar Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000. Although Assad himself has acknowledged the need for reforms in recent weeks, the high-level call for multiparty democracy was remarkable.
Still, Sharaa also made thinly veiled threats against the protesters and suggested some received direction from abroad.
“Arabs will not obtain their goals if they rely on foreigners,’’ Sharaa said. “Unauthorized protests that lead to unwanted violence will cause the fall of more civilians and soldiers,’’ he said.
The approach reflects the Syrian regime’s policy of using both brute force and tentative promises of reform to try to quell the uprising....
Senior opposition figures and activists driving some protests boycotted the meeting.
“They are blockading [restive] cities and killing demonstrators, arresting people, and torturing people to death,’’ said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for a loose network of antigovernment activists. “That cannot create a good environment for dialogue.’’
Then why are the Palestinians continually criticized for refusing to talk to Israel?
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