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NSF delegation meets US officials, announces opening of Washington DC Office

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Washington, D.C. – A National Salvation Front delegation in the Unites States held meetings with officials from the National Security Council, the US Department of State and a number of Congressional staff from April 17-19, 2007. The delegation, headed by Dr. Hussam al-Dairi, the official representative of the National Salvation Front (NSF) in North America, and comprised of members of the NSF General Secretariat as well as representatives of the Syrian National Council, highlighted to US officials the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria, and the growing clampdown on democracy activists in the country.

The NSF delegation briefed US officials on the human rights situation in Syria, especially the physical and mental abuse that many prominent political prisoners, such as Dr. Kamal Labwani, Mr. Michel Kilo, Dr. Anwar al-Bunni and Dr. Aref Dalilah are routinely subjected to, and the sham parliamentary elections and presidential referendum slated for April and June, respectively. These events, the delegates insisted, are indeed quite useless, if not downright farcical, due to the numerous legal restrictions imposed on independent parties and candidates, thus guaranteeing the victory of the Baath Party and its satellites and cronies. Meanwhile, the delegated noted, no real freedom of choice is given toe the Syrian people in the Presidential referendum, where balloting takes place in the open allowing for direct intimidation of the voters. The NSF delegation raised the need for focusing public attention on these issues, particularly in light of recent visits by congressional delegates to Damascus, and the way these visits were portrayed in official press in Syria.

Additionally, delegates conveyed their assessment that regime behavior will not change except through democratization, and, in reference to the situation in Lebanon, they noted that "no democracy will be possible in Lebanon unless there is democracy in Syria." The people of both countries have had enough of the oppressive and corrupt of ways of the Assad regime, they insisted.

For their part, officials at State Department and NSC expressed continued disapproval of Syrian regime behavior and policies, saying that they have not detected any sign that the regime intends to improve its behavior to justify any US openness towards it. In fact, the delegates were told the Administration is "no longer interested in talking to the Syrian regime." This strong and clear message was later made public in a press conference held on Thursday with Arab correspondents by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Scott Carpenter. In the conference, Mr. Carpenter stated that the administration would like to see "the beginning of a course" that will eventually lead to internal political reform and real democracy in Syria.

On a related note, Congressional staff informed the delegation that a stern and explicit message on human rights was indeed delivered to all Syrian officials, including to titular president Bashar al-Assad, and that any promise of improved relations with the US was conditional on improvement in the regime's behavior on all fronts, including human rights as well as domestic political reforms and openness. All concurred that the message the US Congress carried to the regime has been misconstrued in the Syrian press.

For their part, NSF delegates took the opportunity to announce the intended opening of their Washington DC office on May 1. The office will be headed by Dr. Al-Dairi and will be administered by the NSF advisor in the US, her Excellency Elizabeth McKune, former US Ambassador to Qatar. The US-based NSF office will dedicate its efforts to conducting regular meetings with US Administration and Congressional members and staff to help bring more clarity to the situation in Syria and the region.