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| Painting of Alawite hero Sheikh Saleh al-Ali (from DP-News.com) |
A group of Alawite religious leaders have
unexpectedly put forward a 10-point plan for peace in Syria that would see
Bashar al-Assad out by year’s end.
The plan comes as the United States and Russia try to
settle their war of interpretation of the June
2012 Geneva Agreement, and after peace roadmaps by the Arab League, Kofi
Annan, Lakhdar Brahimi and Assad dead-ended.
The Alawite peace initiative was posted yesterday on
the Facebook page of Dr.
Hassan Ali Eid, an Alawite thoracic surgeon who was killed by unidentified
gunmen as he left his home in Homs on September 25, 2011.
The late Dr. Hassan was the son of Sheikh Ali Eid
al-Ali and a nephew of Sheikh
Saleh al-Ali, the most prominent Alawite leader to join the Syrian Revolt
of 1919, one of the first rebellions against the French mandate of Syria before
the Great Syrian Revolt.
The Free Syrian Army put up the Alawite
initiative on the FSA's Facebook page with a one-line introduction stating:
“Because of Alawite pain, there is this 10-point Alawite initiative.”
The Alawite initiative says in a preamble, “The newly-founded
Syrian opposition proved its weakness and inability to head society. It also
does not represent the will of all Syrian people. In turn, the regime has turned
weak and unable to manage the crisis and steer Syria to safe shores.”
It then goes on to list its 10 proposed peace points
as follows:
1. Everyone to lay down arms, withdraw armed men and
military checkpoints from cities and villages and cease firing. Let that commence
on April 1. All sides release all prisoners, detainees and abductees. Consider all
Syrians killed since the beginning of the events as martyrs, irrespective of
their affiliation or political belief. A martyrs committee is set up to
compensate the family of each and every martyr.
2. Ask all non-Syrians to leave Syrian territory
within one week of the ceasefire going into effect. Each side is responsible
for its militants.
3. Set up within a week of the ceasefire a sufficiently
empowered national committee of wise men to oversee implementation of the
initiative.
4. Abduction or arrest of opposition or loyalist
politicians is strictly forbidden under all circumstances.
5. A clear and unequivocal declaration and
undertaking by President Bashar al-Assad not to run in early presidential
elections to be held in the last quarter of 2013.
6. Lift all restrictions on the homecoming of all
Syrians.
7. Set up an all-inclusive national committee for
national reconciliation.
8. Evolve Syria into a civil state where all Syrians
have equal rights and obligations within one year from the date of
implementation.
9. During the transition phase (one year from the implementation
date) the president of the republic hands over all his powers to a national
committee of civilians and military, none of whom would be able to run for
public office in the new Syria.
10. Total separation between state and political
parties and a blanket ban on the army meddling in politics so it can turn into
a professional army tasked with defense of the homeland’s borders.
Editorially, political columnist Elias Harfouche all
but suggests today that Syrian National Coalition (SNC) leader Moaz al-Khatib
is proving to be a political novice.
Writing his weekly column for pan-Arab
al-Hayat, Harfouche says while the regime continues to daydream about military
victory the opposition still fantasizes about ousting Assad without agreeing a
way to do it.
The latest proof of the opposition’s disarray was
Khatib’s foiling of today’s planned SNC meeting in Istanbul to elect a
provisional prime minister after the Arab League directed the SNC to form an “executive
body to take up Syria’s seat” at the League and the upcoming Arab summit in
Doha.
“According to his aides,” writes Harfouche, “Khatib’s
excuse for thwarting the SNC meeting was that he wants to leave open the door
for a settlement with the regime based on Brahimi’s mission and the Geneva Agreement…
“The most serious objection to the SNC leader’s obstruction
of the Istanbul meeting is that it was a personal step – much as his earlier
‘personal’ offer of talks with regime representatives, which caused an outcry
within and outwith the Coalition.
“Reactions to such off-the-cuff Khatib initiatives
are mixed. Some say the man is a political novice, especially as he is dealing
with a master of Machiavellian plots and intrigues. Others believe the man is
simply softhearted…
“What is much more alarming, however, is that Moaz
al-Khatib is misreading the political realities of the Syria crisis. He, along
with like-minded opposition members, believe the door to dialogue remains open”
when Assad and Russia have locked that door and thrown away the key.
The problem, says Harfouche, is that political
confusion in opposition ranks not only serves the regime well, but also
undermines the resolve of Syrians dying and fighting on the ground and eats
away the international backing they crave.
