Ribal Al-Assad addresses the EPP Group at the European Parliament

Wednesday, 3 July 2013 3 more image(s) »Ribal Al Assad with the EPP

For the second time in six months, Ribal was invited to Brussels in June to address the European People’s Party (the largest in the European Parliament) on developments in Syria and the Middle East.

Ribal explained the symbolic importance of coming to Brussels to discuss the fundamental issues of democracy and freedom He explained that if we are to be for democracy here, we must be for democracy everywhere.

He explained how, tragically, the very essence of democracy and pluralism is currently being sabotaged in the Middle East by the spread of Islamic Fundamentalism. The latter is fundamental to current issues in Turkey, Libya and Mali. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, Clerics continue to promote Jihad against Shias, Alawites, Christians and Jews.

Ribal described how these fundamentalist influences are impacting on events in Syria, where the country heads towards apocalypse. This is something he has been predicting for years. It inspired him to form the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria long before the "Arab Spring" , and this is why he feels that the West is doing nothing to stop civil war spilling out across the Middle East and beyond.

Were there a unified, democratic opposition, Ribal would have supported it unequivocally. Only 30 years ago Syria’s mosaic of ethnicities and religions lived side-by-side in harmony and the events of 2011 unfolded created an opportunity for positive change.

However, the peaceful revolutionary movement was hijacked, first by the Syrian National Council and, more recently, by the Syrian National Coalition (also SNC), two thirds of whose founder-members are also members of the Muslim Brotherhood or their allies.

Across the region, leading Muslim clerics have been preaching Jihad to impressionable audiences, and their calls have been transferred online. This has widened the long-standing sectarian, regional divide. A Shia-led axis runs through Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, opposing a Sunni-led axis

involving Turkey, Saudi and Qatar. So much for the Arab Spring!

Ribal illustrated the links between this schism and the influx of military aid into Syria. US$3.5bn has been invested by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in funding, sheltering and arming the Islamist opposition. And he explained how that opposition is being bloated by the arrival of fighters from 38 nationalities into Syria.

Which is why the European Union has pledged to keep these citizens from importing terrorism on their return home.

The New York Times has gone as far as to suggest that nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of. US Secretary of Justice, Eric Holder, has stated categorically that most of the FSA follow the Al Qaida ideology. And even General Idris, the current Chief of Staff of the supposedly moderate Free Syrian Army, has said that he is happy to fight alongside extremist groups.

Ribald explained how the forces who make up the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) share the common ground of Islamism which sits at the heart of each of the al-Tawhid Brigade, Deraa al-Thawra Brigade, Suqour al-Sham Brigade, Syrian Martyrs Brigade, and al Farouq Battalions.

Ribal pointed to horrific online videos, including the ‘The Storming And Cleansing of Hatla’, where opposition forces attacked and massacred a peaceful Shia village, showing gunmen firing weapons and brandishing black flags alongside the colours of the Free Syrian Army. The cameraman comments: “We have raised the banner saying’ there is no God but God’ above the houses of the apostate rejectionists, the Shia, and the holy warriors are celebrating”

He also pointed out the United Nations’ report suggesting that Jihadist rebels may already have used chemical weapons.

It is certain that the blacklisted al Nusra Front remains central to the fighting, and that Christians have been massacred, most recently in Al-Duweir village on the outskirts of Homs.

Having delivered this evidence, Ribal questioned those in the West who still wish to arm the rebels. He pointed to motives lying outside the region, and the ever-intensifying cold war between NATO on one side, Russia and China on the other. As so often in the past, the Middle East has become the chess board upon which this is played out. Exercise Eager Lion 2013 has brought US and Jordanian troops along with 17 other nations into the Jordanian desert. Russia has proposed a permanent naval task force of 10 combat and auxiliary ships in the Mediterranean. Russia’s involvement here is pivotal as her geo-political interests are aligned with her long-term support for Syria, a point made by honouring its controversial contract to deliver the S-300 air defence missile systems to Syria.

Ribal argued that this is why the West is so supportive of the opposition, but that its tactics remain flawed. Because the current opposition is completely unaligned with democracy and freedom. The head of the independent UN investigation, Mr Pinheiro, has actually stated that none of these groups were fighting in the cause of democracy. In fact, despite 100,000 deaths, 1.5 millions refugees and 4.5 millions internally displaced, the latest report from the World Tribune suggests that the regime is beginning to win back support.

This tragedy has already involved untold atrocities including the probable use of chemical weapons on both sides. It has attracted sectarianism, political posturing and any number of destabilising influences. But, so far, it has ignored freedom and democracy and, as Ribal put it, if we are to support these values in Europe, surely we must support them everywhere?

We have tried to support extremist opposition forces in the past. Afghanistan and Libya demonstrated the flaws of this approach. We must learn from history and change the entire narrative in Syria by giving diplomacy a chance, and putting the people of Syria at its heart.

Ribal explained how a series of ‘peace’ conferences have only paid lip service to the rights and needs of the Syrian people . The pending Geneva peace summit will fall into the same trap unless it invites representation from every Syrian group with a genuine interest in democracy.

And that means understanding from the very start that neither the majority of the existing SNC opposition nor the Arab League are democratic at heart.

The first aim of the conference must be to diffuse the violence, with the world’s superpowers agreeing immediately to stop supplying any group with money, arms or supplies. They must pressurise Qatar, Saudi, Turkey and Jordan to stop funding, arming, training and encouraging the conflict. Aid should only be used to supply medical aid through the Red Cross, UNICEF and other responsible charities.

As things stand, Ribal pointed out, a civil war is becoming regional. Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Israel are already directly involved and affected. The growing arms race will only spread it further and deeper. The future of Syria must be determined by the Syrian people. And, as anyone in Brussels must understand, that can only be done through a truly democratic process.

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