Bachar Al Assad can not manage crisis, says former FM Makhous

Former Syrian foreign minister Ibrahim Makhous criticised the system in his country and described President Bachar Al Assad as being “poor of experience in managing crisis.” “What is happening in Syria is a civil war that the country has never experienced,” he told Echorouk in an interview.

• How do think about Al Assad’s speech and his decision to lift the emergency law?
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• President Al Assad did not decide in the measures he had announced. He said if the emergency law was not lifted the coming week, it would be lifted the week after. Bachar did not have experience in managing crisis.
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• Do you believe that the Syrian government contributed in worsening the situation in the country?
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• Syria is experiencing a civil war. This has never happened in the past. The regime led the country to a serious situation.
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• To which extent can you admit that sectarian conflict threatens Syria’s safety?
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• Sectarian conflict is no more than a fabrication. It does not exist. It was created.
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• What is the danger of the Iranian tide on Syria at present?
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• The Iranian tide has no value and no one is affected by it. If they were clever in dealing with Iran, they would have taken advantage from it. Isn’t Iran which helps Palestine and supports Hizbullah in Lebanon?
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• To which extent is it true that Hizbullah was involved in attacking protesters in Syrian cities?
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• That’s not true at all.
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• The Arab street was shocked by torture in Syria. Is it a new act or is it an old practice in the Syrian security forces?
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• We also did not believe what we saw on TV channels. The torture images were terrible. Those practices used to be limited in prison and not publicly on the streets.
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• What do you believe the gangs which are said to kill Syrian protesters?
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• It is the army which manages those gangs and deploys mercenaries in the cities.
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• What is the size of corruption in Syria?
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• Corruption is everywhere in Syria as all the honest people were expelled. I was prosecuted by the Syrian regime after I had left the country early in the 1990’s. They had attempted to assassinate me for five times after I had gone to Algeria. The Algerian leader Houari Boumediene protected me. He called the president Fahd Al Assad and told him if I was hurt, he would be his enemy. At that time, I was a member of the Liberation Army.
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• Who are the corruption barons who are surrounding President Al Assad?
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• They are sectarian tribes who have nothing to do with the party and those who call themselves the opposition members like Abdelhalim Khaddam.
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• Is it true that the Syrian regime is pro-Shia thoughts and against Sunna believers?
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• That’s not true.
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• To which extent can the Syrian regime resist and how do expect the coming events in the region?
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• The regime can resist more if it serves the American-Israeli program. It will collapse in the end as the previous regimes. Arab leaders have become monsters and millions are asking them to go.