Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must step down quickly to stop the country spiraling into civil war, but should be allowed to stay in the country as he is not responsible for the unrest, the incumbent leader’s uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, said on Thursday.
In an interview with French television, Rifaat al-Assad said months of civil unrest had effectively deprived Syria of leadership and it now risked being torn apart by armed militias and could face a worse upheaval than neighboring Lebanon’s civil war in the 1970s and 1980s.
Out of a sense of patriotism, Bashar al-Assad should speed up his departure, he said, but his presence in Syria was not untenable, as blood had been shed on both sides, among supporters and opponents of the government.
Photo: Reuters
“He has to go, but without leaving the country. He isn’t responsible; it’s a historical accumulation of many things and I’d like him to convince himself to step down,” Rifaat al-Assad told LCI television.
Rifaat al-Assad is a former military commander, widely held responsible for crushing an Islamist uprising in 1982 against then president Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, in which thousands were killed.
Rifaat turned against the government in the 1980s and now lives in exile. Earlier this year, his son and Bashar’s cousin, Ribal, who lives in exile in London, urged the Syrian leader to attempt a rapprochement with opponents to avoid civil war.
On Thursday, Ribal told BBC radio the Syrian government just wanted to cling to power.
He called for the opposition to be united, to include all the country’s different ethnic groups, sects and religions, as part of a process towards a peaceful transition. This could allow his cousin to “get out, if somebody could give him refuge,” he said.
“I have been talking to people in the military and in the military secret service lately in Syria who also are tired and are against what is happening,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Syria, government troops shelled two northern villages overnight after an attack by army defectors on forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, local activists said yesterday, in the first reported use of sustained shelling against the eight-month uprising.
The assault came a day after the Arab League suspended Syria and gave it until the end of the week to comply with an Arab peace plan to end a crackdown on the revolt that has killed more than 3,500 people, by a UN count.
Eight villagers were injured overnight when tank shells and heavy mortars fell for three hours on Tal Minnij and Maarshamsheh and surrounding farmland, the activists said.
It was not possible to confirm the shelling independently. Syria has barred most foreign media since unrest began.
Army defectors earlier had attacked a building housing security forces near army depots in the Wadi al-Deif area on the edge of the town of Maarat al-Numaan, 290km north of Damascus, activists said.
A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with Swiss police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested. The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border. The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country, but assisted dying has been legal for decades. On the same day it was used, Swiss Department of Home
‘CLOSER TO THE END’: The Ukrainian leader said in an interview that only from a ‘strong position’ can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘to stop the war’ Decisive actions by the US now could hasten the end of the Russian war against Ukraine next year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday after telling ABC News that his nation was “closer to the end of the war.” “Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram after meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress. “Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year,” he wrote. Zelenskiy is in the US for the UN
TIGHTENING: Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for an influential think tank, has reportedly not been seen in public since making disparaging remarks on WeChat A leading Chinese economist at a government think tank has reportedly disappeared after being disciplined for criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a private chat group. Zhu Hengpeng (朱恆鵬), 55, is believed to have made disparaging remarks about China’s economy, and potentially about the Chinese leader specifically, in a private WeChat group. Zhu was subsequently detained in April and put under investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zhu worked for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for more than 20 years, most recently as the Institute of Economics deputy director and director of the Public Policy Research Center. He
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in