Syrian dialogue conference a ‘historic opportunity’

The interim president of Syria has told a national dialogue conference that the country has a “historical” opportunity to rebuild after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Ahmed al-Sharaa also emphasized the need for armed groups to integrate into the army and that the State has the monopoly of weapons, saying that the “force of Syria lies in its unit.”

The 600 delegates have been requested to provide recommendations on transition justice, the economy, the new Constitution and other issues to guide a new transition government.

But there have been criticism that the process has been hurried, and the alliance of the militia led by Kurdas and the Autonomous Administration that control the northeast of Syria were not invited.

The Assad family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with an iron fist, and Bashar became president in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez.

In 2011, Bashar brutally crushed a prodemocratic peaceful uprising, causing a devastating civil war in which more than 600,000 people were killed and another 12 million forced to flee from their homes.

On December 8, he fled to Russia after a rebel alliance led by the Islamist group of Sharaa, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept from northwest of Syria and entered Damascus in the space of only 12 days.

Seven weeks later, Sharaa was appointed president of the “transition period” by his fellow rebel commanders. They also announced the cancellation of the 2012 Constitution, the dissolution of the Parliament, the Army and the Security Agencies, and the integration of all the rebel groups in the new state institutions that replace them.

Sharaa promised to hold a national dialogue conference to discuss the future of Syria, which according to him would be followed by a “constitutional statement” to serve during the transition.

“Syria liberated by itself, and it is convenient to build on its own,” Sharaa said in a speech at the National Dialogue Conference in Damascus on Tuesday.

“What we are living today is an exceptional, historical and rare opportunity. We must take advantage of every moment to serve the interests of our people and our country.”

The Organizing Committee said that six working groups would be formed to discuss a transition justice system, the new Constitution, reform and construction of state institutions, personal freedoms, the role of civil society and the country’s future economic model.

The groups would agree on the non -binding recommendations, which would be presented to the new transition government that will take power on Saturday and help shape the constitutional declaration, according to the committee.

Sharaa said that a transition justice agency would soon be formed to “restore the rights of people” and begin to retain to account for those who committed crimes against Syrians during the civil war.

He also reiterated that non -state armed groups had to disarm and deliver their territory.

“The unity of weapons and its monopoly by the State is not a luxury but a duty and an obligation,” he said. “Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its strength lies in its unit.”

The interim government forces control the largest cities in Syria, but several parts of the country are still in the hands of armed groups.

They include the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdo, an alliance of militias supported by the United States, which controls most of the northeast and serves as the armed forces of the Autonomous Administration of Syria North and Eastern Syria (Aanes).

The SDF has so far refused to integrate its forces into the new Syrian army, although negotiations have been carried out in recent weeks.

The organizers of the conference said that the SDF and Aanes had not been invited by that rejection, and that the Kurds would be represented in Damascus even if they were not.

However, SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told the AFP news agency that “the exclusion of the SDF and the great sections of Syrian society confirm that the conference serves to please the outside world and not seek a better future “

Thirty -five games in the AAES also criticized what they affirmed that it was the “symbolic representation” of the Kurds and other minorities, saying that such events were “meaningless, without value and will not contribute to finding real solutions to the crisis ongo country”.

MouUTas Sioufi of the day after, an independent civil society group that participates in the conference, told the BBC that it was important that all the groups were involved.

“We need to have a dialogue with all Syrian groups, with all Syrian powers, especially those who have a great influence on the ground. Without that, Syria would face very difficult to stay together,” he said.

The results of the conference will be observed closely by the international community, which has requested an inclusive political process that represents the many ethnic and religious communities of the country.

During the Civil War, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union imposed a wide range of sanctions to Syria aimed at the Assad government and its allies in response to the atrocities committed during the civil war.

They have raised some of the sanctions that paralyzed the Syrian economy since the fall of Assad, but made more steps dependent on the new Syrian leaders maintaining promises to respect the rights of minorities and move towards democracy.

On Monday, the EU announced that it was suspending sanctions to its energy, transport and banking sectors to facilitate humanitarian assistance and reconstruction.

Syrian Foreign Minister Ashibani Ashibani, welcomed that decision, but criticized international sanctions still in force in a speech to the National Dialogue Conference.

“These sanctions are illegitimate and are not based on legal or moral foundations,” he said. “They are being used as a means of pressure on the will of the Syrian people.”

HTS, a former affiliate from Al-Qaeda, is subject to separate sanctions because it continues to be banned as a terrorist organization by the UN, the EU, the EU and the United Kingdom.