News of an agreement between the Syrian opposition inside and outside the country has been premature, with the opposition abroad pulling out of the deal Following more than two months of negotiations among the Syrian opposition, including the Coordination Committee of the Forces for Democratic Change (CCFDC) that includes the majority of the opposition inside the country and the Syrian National Council (SNC) that represents the opposition abroad, an agreement sponsored by the Arab League was announced last Friday that was intended to unite the various groups' efforts to find a common position on the ongoing crisis in Syria, reports Bassel Oudat. However, only hours after the agreement was signed disputes broke out within the SNC, with some members of the Council denouncing it as the personal initiative of SNC chairman Borhan Ghalioun and threatening to resign if it was not abrogated. The deal, signed in Cairo, rejected any possible foreign military intervention in Syria that would undermine the sovereignty and independence of the country, adding that Arab intervention was not to be considered as "foreign". The agreement also stressed the need to protect civilians by all legitimate means in Syria and highlighted the need to maintain and strengthen national unity, reject sectarianism, and condemn sectarian military action. It commended the positions of Syrian soldiers who had refused to obey the orders of the Al-Assad regime to kill peaceful demonstrators. One of the key articles in the agreement stated the need for an Arab League-sponsored conference to set up a "joint committee for national action to coordinate the positions of the opposition and unite their political, human rights, media, diplomatic and relief activities, as well as respect decisions made by participating opposition parties." However, dissenting members of the SNC said that the agreement did not include a clear enough statement condemning the Syrian regime and the crimes it had committed against the Syrian people. One opposition group, the Public Committee for the Syrian Revolution, said that the text of the agreement belittled the achievements of the Free Syrian Army, made up of defecting soldiers from the Syrian armed forces. Dissenting members of the Council said that they could not support the agreement's rejection of foreign intervention, while the Kurdish bloc within the Council said that it could not support the agreement on political and procedural grounds. After the objections within the Council were aired, chairman Borhan Ghalioun issued a statement saying that the agreement was nothing more than a "draft" that would be presented to the Council's secretariat before it was finalised. The deal was intended as a framework for negotiations at the Arab League-sponsored Syrian opposition conference that is expected to take place in Cairo if the first and second stages of the present Arab peace initiative are successful, he said. However, Haitham Mannaa, leader of the Coordination Committee that signed the agreement, said that the document was intended as the real agreement and not just a draft. It contained the foundations for democratic politics in Syria, the coming phase in the country's transition to democracy, and the fundamental constitutional principles that should be adopted in the country, he said. "The Coordination Committee, which includes 15 Syrian opposition parties and national opposition figures, approved the agreement in its entirety," Hassan Abdel-Azim, general coordinator of the CCFDC, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We confirm that there is agreement among the Committee's members regarding the deal. As for the opposition abroad, represented by the SNC, we feel that they have been taking up contradictory views. The Council should resolve these differences, because if the Arab League opposition conference takes place, it will be an opportunity for everyone to express their aspirations for the future of Syria." For the time being, the opposition inside and outside the country does not see eye-to-eye on at least three main issues. First, the opposition abroad does not object to foreign intervention as a means of protecting civilians in Syria, and neither does it object to the imposition of no-fly zones and the establishment of safe zones in the country. The opposition inside rejects any such intervention, while arguing that peaceful protest alone will be able to topple the regime. Second, the Free Syria Army is viewed by the opposition abroad as a partner in deciding Syria's future, while the opposition inside has refused to give it a political role, saying that it fears the potential transfer of power from one military regime to another. Third, the opposition inside Syria wants to create a unified body that will represent the whole opposition across the political spectrum, while the opposition abroad believes that such a body is not necessary and coordination is all that is required. Observers say that decades of repression under the Al-Assad regime have caused the opposition to be fragmented and to act against its own best interests, with personal interests sometimes coming into play. This has been the case despite demands from the Syrian population for the country's opposition to put differences aside and to close ranks in order to overthrow the present regime.
