Syrian opposition figures set up a "secretariat" in Beirut

Sep 14, 2007, 18:39 GMT

Beirut - Syrian opposition figures said Thursday they have set up a 'secretariat general' in Beirut to give them a measure of freedom to hold political stands and make contacts with the outside world.

'It is more like a gathering, not an official office but we called it a secretariat general,' Syrian opposition parliamentarian and dissident Maamoun Homsi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Beirut.

The secretariat consists of opposition signatories of the so- called Damascus Declaration, a document issued in October 2005 by five small opposition groups and nine political figures to build domestic support for peaceful regime change in Syria.

The Declaration was signed by 134 Syrians and 166 Lebanese.

The five opposition parties included the pan-Arab National Democratic Gathering, the Kurdish Democratic Alliance, the Committees of Civil Society, the Kurdish Democratic Front and the Future Party.

Syrian opposition figures stressed in a statement issued in Beirut that they did not want to put 'an extra burden on Lebanon, but have no other alternative but to operate from Beirut.'

According to the statement Homsi was appointed Secretary General for the Beirut bureau, Adib Taleb was named secretary and Elias Haddad foreign relations official.

Homsi, who is currently living in Lebanon, spent five years in Syrian jails (2001-2006) and was a contributor to the Beirut-Damascus Declaration of May 2006, calling on the Syrian regime to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and independence.

The Syrian authorities arrested and jailed some of the signatories, such as writer Michel Kilo and attorney Anwar al-Bunni. The activists were referred for trial in Damascus on charges of threatening civil peace, inciting sectarian differences and stirring civil war.