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March 23rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The remarks come as some foreign-backed Syrian opposition groups are calling for a foreign intervention in the internal affairs of the crisis hit Syria to overthrow the legitimate government of the country.
Syria has been witnessing an armed rebellion since mid-March 2011in which the Saudi-backed armed gangs use arms against civilians to create havoc in the country and to destabilize the Assad’s government.
On March 20, Human Rights Watch said that armed groups in Syria have carried out “serious human rights abuses” over the past months.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that “some foreign countries” are fueling the turmoil in Syria by supporting and funding “armed terrorist groups fighting against the government.”
Press TV has conducted an interview with political analyst, Mr. Waddah al-Khatib from the Capital city of Damascus to further discuss the issue of the Syrian foreign-backed crisis.
The program also provides opinions of two other guests, Mr. Mohsen Saleh, professor at the Lebanese University from Beirut and Jihad Mouraccadeh, political analyst also from Beirut.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: May be you can tell us of the latest efforts of Mr. Kofi Annan –Especial UN envoy to Damascus–.
His efforts and what you know of this and does his plan include the fact that the Syrian president, Bashar Al-Assad has to step down?
Al-Khatib: No, his plan does not include that. -Obviously-Annan is negotiating not for the departure of the current government and structure, but really negotiating with the current government for a certain measure of stability in Syria.
Obviously as a negotiation game, as an attempt at having a certain bargaining position Annan came with a number of suggestions, a number of conditions and the Syrian government has retorted.
I think what we are talking about right now, is an attempt by the West through the medium of Kofi Annan and the United Nations. An attempt to actually resolve this issue with the best possible results or at least losses at their part.
Press TV: Yes, now how do you look at the latest explosions in Damascus and Halab [Aleppo].
Do you think that they were carried out in order to let Mr. Annan’s plans fail or was it in coordination with the opposition that is of course having its dialogue with the United Nations and the Western powers?
Al-Khatib: Well, obviously a terrorist attack in any country forms pressure on the government. I mean when you blow a security building or a headquarter in the middle of a residential area, this is going to cause a great deal of discontent on the part of the population.
So I think any reasonable observer would see in those explosions this past weekend as a message from certain segments and the armed opposition that they are not interested in any political resolution of the current conflict.
Press TV: We have heard from Russia a kind of criticism towards the Syrian government for not having quicker pace in reform plans, do you think that this is serious or is this a way to show that Russia is now with the UN initiative, with Kofi Annan’s initiative to find a solution to the crisis?
Al-Khatib: I mean naturally Russia right now is in a position of power and it wants to assert itself as a new player on the international arena as regaining its force.
I would not take seriously the criticisms of Lavrov as being a shift or a paradigm shift as far as his position or Russian position towards Syria, but I want to come back -Maryam ,[the anchorwoman]–essentially because I am in Syria.
I want to come back to the issue of the government bombing its people, killing its elite forces, killing itself, destabilizing itself, this type of argument has to be stopped.
Thousands of people have been killed and this name calling and this attempt to just kind of saying that the government is responsible for every bloodshed in the country, including one that targets its very foundations; is just ludicrous and it does not lead to anywhere.
A year after the beginning of this crisis, what we are seeing is a government and not a regime that has managed –with all this international pressure-has managed to stay in power, regardless of the weird alliance between al-Qaeda and the United States and the Persian Gulf Sheikdoms and the Al-Saud and so and so forth.
And basically this government has managed to maintain a certain measure of security in the major metropolitan area.
Now bombing a whole city will have to be visually apparent, OK? This just talking about bombing and the Homs by the way we have been hearing from Mr. Marghadi and his likes basically, that Homs has been bombarded since August.
It has to be the largest city in the world and Baba Amr the largest Neighborhood for standing so far. As one Jordanian security expert said, if it had been bombarded by potatoes by now, it would have been -you know– leveled to the ground.
People who are in Homs, people who live in Homs, people who go to Homs, see that this talk about mindless bombardment of large civilian population is a complete falsehood.
There are a lot of tragic losses of life among civilians and somebody has to be held accountable and we cannot be just armchair critics, sitting somewhere and saying that the government is bombing itself and it is bombing its people.
Press TV: Mr. Khatib does Syria sense that there is a kind of a transformation on the global level that the Western powers would perhaps just put aside the fact that stop or stop calling for the ouster of Bashar al-Assad?
Al-Khatib: There is definitely a paradigm shift as far as the global scene. The very fact that the French government for the first time condemned the explosions in Damascus, this Saturday is an indication, the fact that the United States is supporting the [Kofi] Annan mission which is basically saying, it is a mission that wants to work with the current Syrian government to find a solution.
Al these indicate a certain withdrawal if you will, or backing down on the part of the Western powers, and so I think we are looking at the process of negotiation at various levels within the international community to allow for the start of some sort of dialogue within Syria.
Press TV: Do you think in fact with the previous stances of Turkey and countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, do you think if Mr. Assad stays in power that the political future in relations of these countries would not be as good as it used to be?
Al-Khatib: I think with Turkey, it would be a different issue from the Persian Gulf sheikdoms and kingdoms. Obviously if Syria gets out of this safe and all indications now [show] that it will. Then it will be in a stronger position than it was previously.
Now with Turkey, there was a political system, there is a democratic process and there is a great deal of discontent as we see and we hear and we read, among the Turkish population. Particularly those who supported Erdogan on the platform that he ran for.
Discontent with his regional politics and I think Syria will keep that door opened with Turkey in the future, particularly with a change in the government of Erdogan.
As far as the relationships with the Persian Gulf, I think we have to differentiate between two positions: Saudi Arabia and the Qatar on one hand and the rest of the Persian Gulf Sheikdoms that are reluctantly dragging their feet behind the Saudis and the Qataris [on the other hand].
I think as far as the foreseeable future is concerned, those relationships have been seriously damaged and without any sort of serious contrition on the part of the Qataris in particular, I do not see in the near future any window for improved relationship of those countries.
Press TV: How do you look at the demand by some protesters inside Syria or those who support the opposition outside of Syria [are] calling for military intervention. How legitimate is that claim in your opinion?
Al-Khatib: That claim is definitely not legitimate. We have a population if we assume that there is a large segment of the population ask for the intervention of outside forces to topple its own government.
That means that it does not have the critical mass of people who support changing the government; usually what we have seen in other places from the Iranian revolution of the 70’s to the Egyptian revolution most recently; is a critical mass of the population that went out to the streets, demanding to change the government and the price that will be paid is tragic.
Regardless of what we feel about what happened in Iraq in the 90’s; a couple of days ago was the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the American forces and we know the price that the Iraqi people have paid.
Outside forces [foreign forces] are not charities, they are not Santa Claus. They are not going to come and create the utopia in our part of the world. There is a price to be paid.
MY/JR
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