Syria opposition groups fail to reach accord

Attempts to forge a coalition between Syrian opposition groups appear to have collapsed, creating a dilemma for western governments seeking to deal with a unified voice opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

Grassroots activists demanding the downfall of Mr Assad and foreign intervention have forced the rejection of a deal with more established opposition figures who are open to dialogue with the regime.

The difficulty in forging a single opposition umbrella prompts questions about how the protest movement can develop into a government should Mr Assad fall.

The Arab League over the weekend brokered an agreement between the umbrella Syrian National Council and another group called the National Co-ordination Committee for Democratic Change, which represents many opposition activists in Syria tolerated by the regime.

Though hailed in the western media and by the Arab League, the deal and Bourhan Ghalioun, the leader of the SNC, came under immediate fire by the rank-and-file within the opposition.

The deal calls for dialogue with the regime and rules out any kind of international military intervention. Late on Tuesday, the SNC’s executive committee formally rejected the deal with the NCC.

“The Arab League and the international community wanted us to have a mutual vision,” said Walid Bunni, an opposition politician and human rights activist in Cairo. “But the deal was not good for those people who are on the street. There’s no agreement now.”

Critics of the deal say it constrained the activities and platform of the organised opposition abroad and did not reflect the demands of those risking their lives by challenging the regime inside the country.

Indeed, protesters on the streets of restive cities like Hama, Idleb and Daraa generally refuse any kind of dialogue with the regime and are increasingly open to the imposition of an internationally enforced “safe zone” or no-fly zone inside the country. They have also grown wary of those abroad speaking on their behalf.

“The opposition is not honest and has very huge political ambitions that make Syrian blood a second priority,” said one activist reached in Homs. “What I believe is happening is that the opposition are so busy with what they will get after toppling the regime that they are losing the main point. They should focus on one thing only: the toppling of the regime and fair trial for Bashar and his gangs.”

Syrian protesters on the streets are also lambasting the week-long Arab League monitoring mission in Syria as a cover for the regime’s atrocities and have demanded immediate UN Security Council action, even military action. “The people want a no-fly zone,” has become a frequent chant at opposition rallies. Many in the SNC rank and file consider the terms of the deal with the NCC a betrayal of the uprising against Mr Assad.

“The Syrian National Council is part of the Syrian revolution,” Ahmad Ryad Ghanam, the leader of a small opposition party within the SNC, said at a press conference in Cairo. “But it is wrong and has been wrong on this matter. No dialogue with the regime. We want the fall of the regime without any hesitation.”

Some Syrian activists also suspect the NCC has been infiltrated by the regime’s operatives, a tactic commonly used by Arab tyrants.

“The Syrian regime is very crafty and it sends people into the National Co-ordination Committee,” said Khaled Kamal, a Syrian opposition activist in Cairo. “It’s a regime front group. We don’t want to co-ordinate our strategy with agents of the regime.”

The NCC includes older opposition figures with previous ties to the regime, and the rift between the two camps may reflect a generational and ideological divide within the opposition. While the NCC continues to laud the official Syrian flag, the SNC, reflecting the will of protesters in Syria, has adopted the Syrian flag that predated the regime of Mr Assad and his father.

Amr al Azm, a US-based member of the SNC, said that the debacle had “reopened wounds” from previous debates on the representativeness of the SNC leadership. “This is a major issue, there should have been some consultation,” said Mr Azm.

“There is a huge gulf between the politicians and the revolution,” said Mr Ghanam. “The politicians aren’t able to translate the revolution’s demands to the international community.”

Many observers are concerned by the SNC’s apparent failure to build the mechanisms to make authoritative pronouncements on the strategic decisions facing the opposition.

“At the end of the day, it’s a series of competing views within the council, rather than them having an established mechanism for deciding what the position of the SNC should be,” said a western diplomat.