Turkish media is reporting on an interview with US Muslim Brotherhood leader Louay Safi who criticised Western democracies for supporting what he called “the Syrian opposition.” According to the report in Today’s Zaman:
March 23, 2014 ‘We thought the established democracies would support those who are crying out for democracy and freedom. But these countries did not live up to their commitment to democracy and human rights,’ said Louay Safi, spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition — the only group recognized by countries supporting the opposition as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people — in an exclusive interview with Sunday’s Zaman.
Noting that while the international community has provided some political and humanitarian support to the Syrian opposition, it is not enough, Safi said, and he added that the international community has fallen short of meeting its moral and humanitarian obligations.
‘They did not do enough at a very crucial moment in order to force Assad to engage in finding a political solution with good faith,’ Safi said, noting that the international community failed to punish Assad for using unacceptable methods to keep his regime intact.
The crisis in Syria rages on, and each day bombs, shells and ballistic missiles are destroying homes and living tens of thousands civilians killed. Survivors of the bloody conflict end up in camps for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) along the borders of the war-torn country.
The extended conflict has also brought foreign fighters into Syria to fight on both sides, either for the mostly Sunni opposition or for the Assad regime, made up of mostly Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam.
Despite this, Safi rejects claims that the Syrian revolution has failed, saying that the Syrian opposition has managed to keep the fight against the regime forces going for three years and as a result, Assad is not in full control of Syria, since Idlib, much of Aleppo and perhaps Der Azzor and Raqqa are under the control of the opposition forces. ‘This means the revolution did not fail,’ says Safi.
Read the rest here.
In September 2011, the GMBDW reported exclusively that US Muslim Brotherhood leader Louay Safi was a leading member of the newly formed Syrian National Council, a group that was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian National Coalition was created in November 2012 and included members from the Syrian National Council (SNC) and the GMBDW had also identified three SNC leaders that were tied to the US Muslim Brotherhood as well as pointing out that Ghassan Hito, recently chosen by the Syrian National Coalition as its interim Prime Minister, was also part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. The SNC and Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi enjoyed close relations and Moaz Khatib, the SNC President, is also close to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. In April 2011, we discussed leaked diplomatic cables showing that the U.S. State Department secretly financed Syrian opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV station whose news director may have a brother with ties to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. In 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported on moves by the U.S. Government to reach closer relations with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
In February 2010, the GMBDW reported on Dr. Safi’s suspension as a lecturer for the U.S. military pending a criminal inquiry.
For more on Louay Safi, go here.
