For Syria's Ba'ath, it is a make-or-break moment. The question is, how will it survive? Omayma Abdel-Latif investigates

Opposing force

Syria's opposition forces believe that national reconciliation is the way to fight US intervention in domestic affairs

---

The worn-out sign hung on house number four on Abdel-Rahman Annaser Street in Al-Baramakaa neighbourhood reads: Haytham Al-Maleh, lawyer. Al- Maleh's real-life job, however, stretches far beyond what the sign says. He is one of Syria's most unrepentant opposition figures who heads the Human Rights Association in Syria (HRAS), an association whose sole task, in the words of Al-Maleh, is to "protect the rights of Syrian citizens". For almost five decades, Al-Maleh has been waging a vigorous campaign for democracy and the rule of law, a risky cause which cost him his job in the judiciary, put him in prison, and most importantly forced his family to flee the country.

Despite such hardships, 73-year-old Al-Maleh is nonetheless determined to stay his course. "My roots are here. How can I leave Syria? I am as solid as Jabal Qassioun," he said in reference to Damascus's oldest mountain. The office is bursting with activity: Al- Maleh is either discussing the details of a legal case, meeting with foreign diplomats or discussing the current political situation over lunch with his fellow activists from across the political spectrum in Syria.

Although HRAS is not legally registered, it nonetheless enjoys a legal status of sorts. Al-Maleh's request to register the association was met by a no-reply attitude from the authorities. This lack of response granted the association some legal status. "They -- the authorities -- could have rejected our request, instead they were silent about it, which gives us some legal protection," explained Al-Maleh, who added that his association was "not against any form of cooperation with the Syrian authorities as long as this is done to further protect human rights conditions in the country".

A recent manifestation of such cooperation between the state and the home-grown opposition movement took place last month when the authorities accepted the mediation efforts carried out by Al-Maleh, other opposition figures and non-legalised political parties to put a peaceful end to the riots in Al-Qamashely governorate. In the view of the opposition, this proved a kind of "moral victory" for the activists. "It meant that they recognised our existence and the political clout we have on the political scene. They know well that we have integrity and only seek to serve Syrian interests," said Al-Maleh.

Even by the standards of the regime's staunchest supporters, Al-Maleh and other prominent opposition figures are considered to be "part of the patriotic opposition". This home-grown opposition is very often contrasted by an emerging group of Syrian opposition figures abroad who allied themselves with the United States. Recently, under US tutelage, the Union of Syrian Democratic Forces -- which comprises various Syrian opposition groups abroad -- held a meeting to discuss the political situation in Syria.

The one figure which came under scathing attack by both the state-owned media and the Syrian opposition inside the country was Farid Al-Ghadry who heads the Syrian Reform Party and who was dubbed Syria's Chalabi, in reference to Iraqi businessman and leader of the Iraqi National Congress, Ahmed Chalabi, who is considered by many to be a US stooge.

While the media was critical of those groups abroad calling them "US stooges", in the same breath, it showered praise on what it considered "the patriotic loyal opposition" which does not associate itself with US schemes.

This not to say that the domestic opposition does not get its share of trouble. Critics of the opposition movement in Syria, mostly from circles close to the state, accuse even this "patriotic" opposition of being obsessed with elitist issues. "In a country where almost 60 per cent of the population is under the poverty line and where unemployment rates are at 30 per cent and the country is in the throws of a major economic crisis, the opposition should be concerned with issues of importance to the Syrian citizens," Youssef Al-Faysal, secretary-general of the Syrian Communist Party told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Another Syrian commentator close to government circles, accused the opposition of adopting a Western- oriented agenda and added that it does not represent a movement which enjoys grassroots support.

Such criticism, however, does not detract from the fact that both sides have a shared enemy. There is, in fact, a general consensus among Syrian observers that perhaps the one common enemy both the regime and the home-grown opponents have is the rejection of any form of American meddling in Syrian affairs. Al- Maleh and his fellow colleagues understand the US' call for reform to be a euphemism for US intervention. "We are in a situation which is fraught with uncertainties," Al-Maleh said. "No one trusts the US' intentions because this administration is only after short term interests and has no regard for the peoples in this region," he added.

Such sentiments of distrust are shared across the political spectrum in Syria. Many of the opposition figures who spoke to the Weekly derided the US' calls for democracy. They believe that the US demands from Syria have to do with ensuring that Syria does not pose a threat to Israel. "The US is least concerned with political reform in Syria," Riad Turk, a veteran communist opposition figure told the Weekly. Their goal, he continued, was to remake the region and cut Syria down to size by curtailing its regional influences. Turk, who served almost 20 years in prison during the reign of both Hafez and Bashar Al-Assad, believes that the Syrian regime failed to translate its rhetoric about reform into realities on the ground. "We had an opportunity to handle the state-opposition relationship in a way that serves the national interests of Syria but it has been missed now," he said

The opposition groups in Syria have routinely made demands to implement the Syrian Constitution and laws. The onus, they argue, is on the Syrian regime to help initiate the process of change. For this to happen, a number of conditions should be met. "The regime has to drop the mindset of excluding voices of dissent, work towards building stronger domestic consensus through public participation and move towards a process of national reconciliation," Al-Maleh said. In order to translate this process of national reconciliation into reality, the opposition's list of demands also includes that the government issue a general amnesty for political activists, allow the return of exiled opposition and lift the emergency laws which have been stifling the country for 41 years and allow freedom of expression and the formation of political parties.

In response to such demands, Syrian officials speak of an "unprecedented" opening up of spaces for the opposition inside Syria. Signs of this were manifested in the fact that during this year alone four demonstrations were endorsed by the authorities. Three of them were held in front of the building housing the cabinet, while the fourth took place right in front of the presidential palace.

They also cite the fact that the Ba'ath Party is in itself undergoing a process of disengagement from the state. Adding to this argument, observers say that perhaps one of the strange characteristics of Syrian politics is the existence of a number of political parties which -- although they do not have legal status -- still run for parliamentary elections and play a role in the political scene. They also publish bulletins in which they harshly criticise state policies. For example, issue number 87 of the Democratic Stand, a bulletin published by the National Democratic Group in Syria, addresses the issue of torture in Syrian prisons. Issue number 96 of the Democratic Socialist Arab Union Party -- titled Al- Arabi (the Arab) -- devoted its pages to discussing political change and emergency laws in Syria.

While some opposition figures acknowledge that some changes have indeed taken place, they nonetheless believe that Syria is still far from democratic.

"There have been some developments in the state- opposition relationship; [especially in that the state has] accepted that 'other political forces' do exist," Hassan Abdel-Azeem, a lawyer who is secretary- general of the Arab Socialist Party told the Weekly at his office in Damascus. He went on to explain that the security apparatus no longer carries out routine arrests as was the case in the past. Bashar's rule, he went on, ushered a period of opening up new spaces.

"In Damascus alone, there were seven muntadayaat [public discussion forums] which were venue for all the groups critical of the regime. The state even positively responded to this forum by dispatching members of the Ba'ath Party to engage in the discussions and respond to the criticisms. It was a kind of Athenean democracy," recalled Abdel-Azeem. " It was about dialogue." The experience was aborted and only one forum is still allowed to function: that of Gamal Al-Atasi who was a prominent Syrian opponent. But, according to Abdel-Azeem, this does not mean that the process has become irrevocable. "It is not like we are back to square one in terms of democracy ... We have definitely gone a long way since the death of Assad."

There is a consensus that indeed the most difficult challenge facing Syria is how it should stand up to the US' schemes. In the view of most opposition figures, the Syrian Accountability and the Lebanese Sovereignty Act which US President George W Bush passed last month is no more than "an exercise to score points on the domestic front". "No country has the right to pass a law in order to punish another country. This is an act to terrorise Syria," Al-Maleh said.

There is a general agreement among the rank and file of Syrian opposition that the US' intervention in Syrian affairs will not be welcomed at any level. "This is a red line for every one of us," explained Turk. There is not one political group, Turk continued, that would accept foreign intervention to carry out regime change. "We -- as opposition and social forces -- have the ability to make our own history and initiate change." The US' method for Iraq of using the opposition in exile, they insist, will not be effective in the Syrian case. "People like Farid Al-Ghadry don't exist on the ground in Syria. They have no constituency here or grassroots support. Even members of the Syrian Brotherhood who fled the country in the 1980s and 1990s don't accept the concept of foreign intervention in Syria," Al-Maleh said.

He recalls that when the US ambassador visited him a short while ago, he gave him a piece of his mind. "I said to him just so you know I would be ashamed to associate any of my work for democracy in Syria with the US and that I believe his country is run by a stupid president who is taking the world down the drain."