By Nehad Ismail

Who’s who in the Syrian messy quagmire?

The Arab League has been reticent almost apologetic about the chaos in Syria. The Arab world by and large has been silent about the atrocities taking place in Syria. The departing Secretary General Amr Moussa said a few words most carefully and diplomatically almost apologetically about the deteriorating situation in Syria. Nevertheless he was savagely censured by Walid Muallem the Syrian Foreign Minister. Russia and the US are pressing for a dialogue between the opposition and the Damascus regime. Monitoring the Arab media scene, I can say that there is a feeling of frustration in the Arab world that there is some kind of conspiracy to keep Bashar al Assad in power. Some commentators wonder why Syria is treated differently from Libya.

We have seen footage of tortured and mutilated bodies of children. We have seen soldiers kicking with heavy boots two or three defenceless protesters lying on the ground with their hands tied with a string. It is believed they bled to death. We have seen footage of an elderly man being kicked around and you could hear his pleas for mercy. Yet despite the abuses and killings the regime is in denial. Spokespersons of Damascus blame Israel, USA, Crusaders, CIA agents, the Mossad, the Islamists, the Salafists, the BBC, Aljazeera, France 24, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, traitors, anti-Syrian Lebanese and everyone they can think of except themselves.

Here we have a ruthless regime waging war against its own people, yet there seems to be a conspiracy of international dimensions to leave the Syrians to their fate at the hands of one of the most corrupt and ruthless regimes in the region. Political cynics say “Syria is safe because of its commitment to maintain peace and quiet along the Golan Heights border so that the occupation remains undisturbed”. Others would say “Iran and Hezbollah would not allow the regime to fall”. So now we know that the future of the Syrian people is in the hands of others.

I think the time is ripe to reveal who’s who in the Syrian quagmire. I begin with the Two Ugly Sisters: Al-Baath Party and Al-Shabbiha:

Al-Baath means in Arabic the rebirth or the renaissance.

In the 1950s the Baath Party in Syria and Iraq became popular because they offered slogans of unity, liberty, and the liberation of the Arab people from foreign domination. As it happened the Baath became violent and repressive and produced leaders such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Hafez al Assad the father of Bashar al Assad of Syria. Both men were ruthless in dealing with their opponents. The promise of liberating the Arab man from foreign domination was replaced by tyranny, torture and death. The Baath was a violent ideology that thrives on flogging empty slogans to the Arab street, but nothing more. It became a corrupt, single party state that does not tolerate any opposition or dissent. The Baathist Syrian regime has been a police state since 1970. Just one example illustrates the sick mentality of the Baathist thinking. In 1970 Nureddin Al-Atassi a former Pre-Baath President was imprisoned by Hafez al-Assad. Nureddin spent 22 years in a small cell in al Mazza prison without any charge or trial. He had been denied medical treatment for cancer which killed him in December 1992. Saddam Hussein brought ruin to Iraq, Bashar and his younger brother Maher are now doing the same to Syria.

Alshabbiha:
Since the middle of March 2011 more than 1400 unarmed civilians have been killed by the Syrian security forces and Para-military groups working on behalf of the ruling al-Assad family. These Para-militaries are called “Shabbiha”.

The term Shabbiha means in Arabic “ghostlike” sinister characters that appear from nowhere like ghosts and proceed to kill and maim demonstrators. An excellent and thorough study issued recently by the Henry Jackson Society Organization (A London based Geo-Political Think –Tank) written by two distinguished journalists Michael Weiss and Hannah Stuart, described how the Shabbiha direct their violence against the protest movement aided and abetted by the Syrian security forces. The Shabbiha operate a criminal network throughout Syrian coastal regions and specialise in smuggling, robbery and prostitution. Members are drawn from the Pro-Bashar al-Assad regime sectors. They are regime’s loyalists. The senior leaders of the Shabbiha are said to be first cousins of Assad.

The extent to which the militia are taking orders from Assad is unclear. It is also unclear whether they seek to capitalise on civil unrest and consolidate their criminal network through intimidation.

The dangerous elements that will bring ruin to Syria

Maher Al Assad; younger brother of Bashar al Assad and Commander of the Syrian Army’s 4th Division; member of Ba’ath Party Central; main actor in the violent suppression of the protest movement; Maher is implicated by United Nations investigators in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

Rustom Ghazali Head of Syrian Military Intelligence, Damascus Countryside Branch

Fawwz al Assad Regime co-ordinator Shabbiha militias

Mundir al Assad ditto

Rami Makhlouf – Syrian businessman; Bashar al- Assad’s cousin and associate of Maher al-Assad; finances a lot of regime activities; estimated to be worth billions; Owns Syriatel Telecommunications Company; oil interests; owns Syria’s only private newspaper; told New York Times on 10 May 2011: ‘If there is no stability here, there’s no way there will be stability in Israel.

Ali Mamlouk – Head of General Intelligence Service; shown in Wiki

Leaks-obtained documents boasting of his ability to penetrate ‘terrorist organisations’ in General Intelligence Directorate, Damascus Branch

Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Chaar Minister of Interior

Hafez Makhlouf Colonel & Head of Unit in General intelligence Directorate, Damascus Branch

Assef Shawkat a brother-in-Law of Bashar al Assad and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army

Mohammed Dib Zeitoun – Head of Political Security

Amjad Al-Abbas – Head of Political Security in Banias

Abd Al-Fatah Qudsiyeh – Head of Military Intelligence, led the committee that investigated the assassination in 2008 in Damascus of Imad Mughniyeh, a Hezbollah commander.

Jamil Hassan: Head of Syrian Air Force Intelligence and a few others who may end up in front of the international criminal court for crimes against humanity.

Who are the good guys?
( based on research and observations)

Suhair Atassi – in her 30s and a long term democracy activist, based in Damascus

Michael Kilo A writer and a veteran political activist

Hiatham al-Maleh a veteran opposition figure

George Sabra: a leading member of the Syrian Democratic People’s Party

Dr. Aref Daliala a retired academic and economist.

Mamoun Homsi a former MP and an opposition activist

Anas Al Abdeh President of the London based Movement for Justice and Development

Shibli al Ayassami a leading opposition figure. Went missing on 30th May in Syria

Hassan Abdul Azeem Secretary General of the Arab socialist Union Party

Mashaal Timo a leading figure of the Kurdish People’s Union

Anwar al-Bunni, a Human Rights Lawyer

Fayez Sara – A writer and journalist

Ammar Qurabi A Syrian Human Rights activist

Mazen Darwish, until arrested recently was the Director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression which was shut down by the authorities.

Opposition figures in Exile:

Muhyedin Lazikani
Editor in Chief of Hodhod a News Website: A prolific writer. He is a known opposition figure based in London

Zuhair Salem:
A moderate and pragmatic Islamist, he even wears a tie and also a quiet spoken guest on TV. He is the Director of the Arab Orient Centre for Strategic & Civilization Studies. Based in London and fiercely anti Syrian regime.

Subhi Hadidi:
A long time critic of the Syrian regime. A frequent contributor to Al-Quds Alarabi Newspaper.

Dr. Haytham Manaa -
A Human Rights activist, based in France

Mumtaz Suleman:
A Syrian Kurdish Lawyer and activist and speaks a lot against the Syrian Regime Based in London.

Ghasan Ibrahim;
Editor in Chief of the London based Global Arab Network which is a business networking website but publishes articles critical of the Syrian Regime.

Rami Abdul Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Syria.

The Henry Jackson Society Study referred to above listed the following:

Mouhja Kahf – Poet at the University of Arkansas

Najib Ghadban – Kahf’s husband, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas

Ausama Monajed – Head of public relations at the Movement for Justice and Development, a Syrian opposition group based in London

Osama Kadi – Co-founder and president of the Syrian Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, based in Washington, D.C.

Ammar Abdulhamid – Director of the Thawra Foundation; prominent Western spokesperson for the opposition, based in Maryland; author of the Syrian Revolution Digest blog

Radwan Ziadeh – Founding director of the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies; executive director of the Syrian Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, based in Washington, D.C

Burhan Ghalioun – Professor of Oriental Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris

Riad Seif – Former Syrian MP detained a number of times by the Assad regime

Abdurrazzaq Eid – Member Elected to Consultative Council at Antalya meeting

Amr Al-Azm – Member Elected to Consultative Council at Antalya meeting

Ghassan Mifleh – Member Elected to Consultative Council at Antalya meeting.

My summing ups is that the regime is hoping that the revolution will run out of steam relying on the loyalty of the Syrian army
and the continued silence of the Arab World and the perceived weak reaction from the West. The regime’s very late calls for dialogue were rebuffed by the opposition. The opposition argues that you cannot hold a dialogue whilst ordinary people are being slaughtered.

The Western powers can make a big difference in supporting the freedom movements in Syria by declaring the Assad regime as illegitimate and the severing of all diplomatic contact with Syria. The Syrian opposition rejected the regime’s propaganda that the opposition is controlled by Islamic extremists. My fear is that this regime will fight to death to cling to power. In my view this regime has reached the point of no return and is beyond redemption.


Nehad Ismail is a London based Commentator on Middle Eastern Affairs. He contributed this article to Ammon News English.