|
Syria: Opposition leaders says the west
has stepped down pressure on Assad
26.6.2006
|
|
|
|
Opposition leader says
the West has stepped down pressure on Assad to avoid
another Iraq-like situation in the region
LONDON, -- The Syrian government has stepped
up a crackdown on dissent because it fears its grip
on the country is weakening, the exiled leader of
the Muslim Brotherhood group says.
Ali Bayanouni, who formed an opposition coalition
this year with secular and Kurdish opposition
parties, said the West had eased pressure on
President Bashar al-Assad, fearing his ouster could
unleash the kind of violence and chaos seen in Iraq.
“I think a lot of the reason the Syrian regime
receives support is due to ... fear of an outcome
like Iraq,” Bayanouni told Reuters, adding that
foreign pressure could lead to the collapse of the
government.
Syria, led by the Baath Party since a 1963 coup, has
detained around a dozen dissidents, including
prominent human rights lawyers and intellectuals, in
the past month in a crackdown on criticism of
government policy.
“The regime is scared. It is scared of internal
things. This has increased repression,” London-based
Bayanouni said.
“The Syrian regime lives in a state of fear and
terror ... It doesn’t know what will come out of the
Hariri report,” he said, adding officials believed
international condemnation over the assassination of
former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri could
lead to further internal dissent.
Reuters
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 