Stand by the people of Syria Monday, 10 October 2011 02:43

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad made yet another facile promise to reform his regime yesterday even as his soldiers killed at least eleven people seeking those very reforms, but more importantly, he threatened to retaliate against any country that recognises the Syrian National Council (the opposition grouping) now that it has got an oraganisational structure in place.

The Council met and elected its chairman and its executive body in Cairo yesterday proving that it can more actively drum up support against the Asssad regime, both within and outside the country. It’s about time the international community took a firmer stand and did something to prevent loss of more innocent lives and the situation gets worse than it already is.

Some people might say that Syria’s situation is more complicated and different than Libya’s and other Arab nations that have had their uprising because of the support Assad’s government gets from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as its volatile border with Israel.

But a life lost is a life lost, irrespective of the location, complication of the situation or the political implications. The United States, Europe and especially the Arab countries should not be intimidated by Assad’s threat and act immediately before it’s too late. Russia and China had vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution that threatened sanctions against Syria if Assad continued with his violent suppression of the opposition. Yet, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently asked Assad to reform or quit. This goes to show that even those who appeared solidly behind the Assad regime are now starting to have second thoughts. The Syrian National Council should now start to build and mobilise support inside the country and include minority ethnic groups into their committees to ensure that the Council truly becomes representative of the entire Syrian people.

They should also start to building relationships with the international community, including Lebanon and Iran, in order to win away support from the Assad regime. They should also use media and the Internet as a platform to create awareness and support for their cause similar to what the Libyan Transitional Council did in establishing Libya TV.

Regimes are not forever. They change. But one thing remains and that is a country’s people. And that should be the concern of all.