Syrian opposition figure and political activist Haitham Manna explains his views on the Syrian crisis to Bassel Oudat in Damascus In an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, prominent Syrian opposition figure Haitham Manna emphasised the need to pursue the plan drawn up by UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Anan to resolve the crisis in Syria, adding that it was essential that this plan be given the time to work. The plan should not be abandoned at a time when no alternative to it was available, Manna said, criticising in particular initiatives to arm the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to fight the regime directly. Manna expressed fears that this could curtail the peaceful struggle in Syria, possibly igniting civil war. There should be an UN-sponsored international conference attended by all relevant stakeholders to help solve the Syrian crisis, Manna said. What the country needed now was "to put out the fire" rather than the prospect of yet more conflict. Manna, who is head of the Executive Bureau of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCBDC) outside Syria, combated suggestions that the Anan plan had already failed to end the violence and bloodshed in the country. "The Anan plan was the first agreement drawn up by international consensus to end the tragic cycle of violence in Syria that had been triggered by the military and security crackdown. If it is officially declared to be a failure by its architect and the institutions that gave him his mandate, this would take us back to square one. We prefer to critique the plan and plug the holes in it rather than go back to the drawing board," Manna said. The Syrian opposition and Western states have asserted that the Syrian regime led by President Bashar Al-Assad has deliberately frustrated the Anan plan and has not implemented it. It has continued its military crackdown to end the popular uprising demanding the ouster of the regime, the opposition says, and some members of the opposition have demanded that the UN now declare the plan a failure and end its mediation efforts. The problem is that there is no alternative plan waiting in the wings, and Manna, who represents a body that includes ten progressive Syrian opposition parties, remains optimistic that a way can be found to make the plan work. "Russia and China, as well as the NCBDC and the majority of the other opposition forces, accepted the Anan plan because it seeks to end the direct and indirect conflict in Syria, as well as the proxy conflicts, tribal rivalry, plague of sectarianism, and security and military crackdown." "There may have been some over-optimism and over-confidence in the Syrian people's social and ideological sensitivities. However, while Anan's plan is not ideal, it is realistic and it needs support to succeed in terms of its composition -- an increase in the number of monitors -- function -- the creation of task forces on the ground -- and goals -- the clarification of its aims as the starting point for democracy." "While it is true that some said the plan was stillborn, and others wanted to use it to justify the arming of the opposition, these people are in the camp that wants to do battle with Syria, not fight for democracy there. Today, we need to distance ourselves from all violence in Syria, because this has blurred our ability to see the civil and democratic path forwards." "I can understand that some Salafi leaders I have met are elated that the notion of a Muslim caliphate is being discussed in Syria, but I cannot understand how they can be so shallow and selfish since this would pit us between dictatorship or sectarian civil war." Some Western circles have started to talk about the possibility of a military solution to the Syrian crisis, though Russia's support for the Syrian regime has made this option unlikely. Nevertheless, some observers believe that although the West in general has said it will not intervene militarily, changing circumstances could see a change in positions and perhaps a military solution could be proposed outside the UN Security Council to end the Syrian crisis. "The West intervened in Iraq, where winning was easy and the bill was paid in advance. It also intervened in Libya, which produces two-and-a-half times as much oil as Algeria. Before that, it intervened in the former Yugoslavia when that country became a trouble spot for Europe and not just for its own citizens," Manna said. "Given this history, we refuse to countenance Western intervention in Syria, since this will be ruled by self-interest and will redraw the map to reflect foreign domination. None of the consecutive US administrations have ever discussed the possibility of change in any country except to serve US national security or US vital interests." Manna, who met with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and senior Russian officials last month, said of Moscow's position on Syria that while Russia has frequently declared that it rejects foreign intervention in Syria, it has done so because it does not want to see the country slip into chaos, rather than because it supports the al-Assad regime. Many in the opposition have rejected Moscow's stance, however, saying that its words do not match reality since it has not budged an inch in its support of the Syrian regime, even supplying it with weapons. "We have many concerns about Russia's position, and we do not support its stance on the Syrian crisis. We are very upset, especially by Lavrov's statements. We know that Russia wants to formulate, or at least participate in, creating an alternative in Syria, and so we do not view Russia's participation as a weakness, but rather as a strength that could transform Syria with the least possible economic and human losses," Manna said. "However, we always remind Russian officials that neither Russia nor China have a history of colonialism, or hegemony, or of plundering other people's resources. Russia must assist the Syrian people in building a modern democratic state, not oppose them and side with the murderous dictatorship." Russia is one of the key states that have supported the Syrian regime since the beginning of the uprising more than one year ago, and it has used its veto power twice in the UN Security Council to block resolutions condemning the Syrian authorities for using excessive force to suppress the demonstrators. It has also been a stumbling block in transferring the Syrian issue to the Security Council, and the country's opposition has claimed that the Syrian regime feels empowered in its continued military crackdown against the people because of Russia's protection. Of the FSA, composed of army defectors and volunteers and estimated to number tens of thousands of men deployed across the country, Manna said that this was "the Syrian name for taking up arms that is accepted by the Arab countries and the international community. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal say it is acceptable for the FSA to carry arms in Syria to fight the dictatorship, but the regime is using the existence of FSA to buttress its conspiracy theories, which are the regime's lifeline." "We must be aware that the FSA is not the only one armed group, and there are many 'free armies' in Syria, and they are not united or acting under central control. Some of them are made up of army defectors, while most are composed of volunteers, and they have been joined by armed non-Syrian fighters who have compounded the problem. I believe this experiment has been unsound, both as a military strategy and politically, and I believe it is in danger of curtailing the peaceful struggle and will therefore serve the authorities more than the peaceful Syrian revolution." "The most worrying thing is that some of the armed groups have come to rely on violence for the sake of violence, and not just to eliminate the dictatorship." Some European diplomats have described the upcoming Friends of Syria Conference, due to be held on 6 July in Paris, as a "conference of resolve". In Manna's view, "I would rather that this conference not be held because it will be ineffective like the previous ones, especially since the French governmental team is still being formed, and new policies there will be subject to the outcome of the French parliamentary elections." "The position of the French left and greens is similar to that of the peaceful Syrian opposition, while other French groups oppose it. I hope that Anan will insist on holding a truly international conference on Syria that would not only discuss one set of proposals put forward by limited representative teams, but instead would be attended by all regional, international and Syrian parties and would hold everyone accountable." "There is a civil war on the ground in Syria, and it is no longer viable to talk about the Syrian people's immunity from sectarian flare-ups. It is critical that we set up a team able to extinguish the fire and end regional and international manipulation." Regarding the protection of civilians threatened by the conflict in Syria, Manna, also spokesman for the Arab Commission for Human Rights, said that "there are many issues that should be brought to the table to curb fantasies regarding no-fly zones, buffer zones, humanitarian corridors, surgical strikes, NATO intervention, Turkish intervention, and the rest, since continued trafficking in these ideas will create a gloomy outlook for Syrians who are rising up against the dictatorship." On the possibility that the UN Commission for Human Rights (UNCHR) refers the Syrian issue to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Manna said that "there is no need to await a political resolution before initiating legal action. We should employ international human and civil rights machinery to begin investigating the crimes being committed in Syria. This would be an honourable feat for the advocates of international justice, and Syria would set a precedent." "The new ICC prosecutor-general could launch an investigation in response to a request by the Human Rights Council and UNCHR, or by two-thirds of the countries that signed the Rome Statute, or at the request of the Security Council. Article 13 Paragraph C of the Rome Statute gives the prosecutor-general a mandate, and Article 15 gives him this right at his own discretion. We hope to see action in this direction as soon as possible." Discussing the future of the country at this time of suffering for all Syrians, Manna said that "it is difficult to predict the future when there are so many turns ahead of us and so many different forms of influence and activity. However, I believe it is the duty of all who believe in democracy not to lose the compass of peaceful struggle and to hold to the need for a political process in Syria. We need to uphold these things in order to see a retreat from violence and an end to the killing."
