Prominent Syrian opposition figure seeks for new step
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Farid Hijab, who defected from the Syrian government in 2012, is leading a movement of Syrian opposition powers to hold a seminar in the Qatari capital, Doha, next February, to discuss paths to a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Hijab’s move comes to stir the political situation in the Syrian opposition scene. Opponents believe that he may seek to produce new political bodies and platforms.
Reports have recently leaked information regarding a restructure project at the hands of the dissident former Prime Minister, Hijab, and directly supervised by Turkey and Qatar.
Over a decade of the Syrian war, the opposition with its different entities failed to unify its ranks and could not present a serious alternative for the current “regime” in Syria. As a result of the successive field losses, it has become weak, its leaders dispersed and acted according to the agenda of their supporters.
It is scheduled that many Syrian opposition figures from different currents will be invited to participate in its sessions that will be held in Doha.
The symposium is organized by three opposition study centers (Harmon, Jusoor and Omran), which are preparing 25 research papers to be discussed in 8 sessions, according to media reports.
The reports indicated that there are research papers from a number of academics dealing with the paths to a political solution, whether in Geneva or Astana.
The reports revealed that more than 60 Syrian opposition figures are invited to attend the seminar, most notably the former president of the Syrian Coalition, Moaz al-Khatib, George Sabra, and some personalities who participated in the opposition meeting at the Riyadh Conference 1 held in 2015 and were later excluded from the Riyadh Conference 2 held in 2017.
The head of the National Coalition, Salem al-Maslat, the head of the Syrian Negotiations Committee Anas al-Abdah, and the co-chair of the Constitutional Committee Hadi al-Bahra will also participate.
The symposium will discuss most of the political files related to the negotiating process, according to reports.
The reports further explained that it is too early to talk about the results of this symposium, as it may result in a new political platform, and it may remain in the research context and nothing more.
Early this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met Hijab in the Qatari capital, Doha, where they discussed developments in Syria.
This is the second meeting during 2021 bringing the Turkish Foreign Minister and the dissident Prime Minister together. In March, they met in Doha without disclosing issues discussed.
Hijab’s project, which does not call for unification with Moscow and Cairo platforms or partnership with the Salvation Government, abandons the idea of toppling the Syrian government as a way to reach the new Syria, which is intended to have moderate policies and isolates itself from the region’s conflicts under the slogan of national interest.
And this practically means normalization with Israel, and moving away from the resistance.
The project rules out many prominent personalities of the opposition and shows Hijab as a personality running an entity parallel to the government.