CNN: Syrian opposition meets to put up united front

By the CNN Wire Staff

July 16, 2011 7:34 p.m. EDT

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Hundreds of exiled Syrian activists meeting in Istanbul on Saturday elected a 25-member council as they sought to declare unity in their intention to oust the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The National Salvation Council, composed of independents, liberals, Islamists and members of other parties, will serve as an umbrella organization representing various factions of the Syrian opposition -- sometimes seen as fractured in their demands.

"Bashar al-Assad is finished," said Haitham al-Maleh, a political prisoner who was released from jail in March in an attempt to appease protesters. "He must leave the country, leave the power. We want to build our government, our regime, without them.

"We will move together to be one opposition ... because you know we spent 50 years under a dictatorship," he said. "The civil society in Syria is finished. Now we are building ourselves for the future."

The Syrian National Salvation conference -- attended by about 350 opposition members -- unfolded as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also in Istanbul for meetings with Turkish officials, expressed support for the opposition.

"What's happening in Syria is very uncertain and troubling, because many of us had hoped that President Assad would make the reforms that were necessary without seeing what we're now seeing in the streets of Syria, which are government tanks and soldiers shooting peaceful demonstrators," she said.

"There must be a legitimate, sincere effort with the opposition to try to make changes," she said. "I don't know whether that will happen or not."

Some opposition members were frustrated at what they perceived as a lack of response from the international community and hoped that a united Syrian opposition would ratchet up pressure on al-Assad.

"The international community seems to be still dancing around the issue of the Assad regime losing legitimacy and that could be due to a number of reasons," said M. Yaser Tabbara, a Syrian-American human rights lawyer.

"I think what we're trying to do is send these reassurances to the international community that a credible, competent council or body is being formed, and that we do not have to worry anymore about a vacuum of power or a vacuum for an alternative."

He said the Syrian opposition wants world powers to choke the regime economically, politically and diplomatically "to achieve a point of no return."

A similar opposition meeting was to have taken place in Damascus but because of violence Friday, the meeting was canceled. However, two prominent activists were able to connect to Istanbul via Skype and telephone.

But despite efforts to maintain a united front, there was disagreement still over whether to push for the ouster of al-Assad or to work to promote reforms within the current framework. And a banner that read the "Syrian Arab Republic" drew the ire of the Kurdish delegation for the inclusion of the word, Arab.

Meanwhile in Syria, more violence erupted following a day of nationwide protests.

At least one person was killed Saturday when Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in the eastern town of Albu Kamal, according to the activist group Local Coordination Committees in Syria.

State television said, however, that "armed groups" attacked a police station, a mayor's home and other government sites in Albu Kamal and that two policeman was killed. It said a number of guards were injured.

At least 21 civilians and one soldier were killed Friday in demonstrations. Sixteen of the fatalities occurred in Damascus and its suburbs, one in Homs, three in Idlib and one in Daraa, said Rami Abelrahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Videos that allegedly showed the funeral processions for those killed were posted Saturday on Facebook pages belonging to Syrian activists. They showed people marching on the streets, carrying coffins and chanting slogans against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

As of Friday, the death toll for civilians since the unrest began more than four months ago rose to 1,440, with an additional 353 deaths among army and security personnel, Abelrahman said.

Protesters echoed the demands for reforms that they have voiced for months.

Original post: Syrian opposition meets to put up united front

NGOs want world prosecutor's "preliminary analysis" on Syria

Syrian non-governmental organisations and lawyers Tuesday formally asked the International Criminal Court for a "preliminary analysis" of what they described as "crimes" committed in their country.

"We ask the prosecutor to lead a preliminary analysis of the crimes committed by the Syrian regime," said Yaser Tabbara, a lawyer and member of the US-based Muslim civil rights organisation CAIR.

Tabbara was part of a delegation which travelled to The Hague to drop off a message at the prosecutor's office.

More than 1,100 Syrian civilians have been killed by the Syrian regime since protests started in the country in March, Tabbara added, saying "murders and tortures, that is, crimes against humanity," have been committed.

"We have well and truly received the communication," Florence Olara, spokeswoman for the ICC prosecutor's office, told AFP.

"Now we have to see whether we have the jurisdiction on those crimes, which would be surprising, since Syria is not a State party to the Rome Statute," the ICC's founding treaty.

About 50 Syrians living in The Netherlands on Tuesday gathered before the ICC office, an AFP journalist saw.

The protesters, some carrying Syrian flags on their backs, demanded and end to violence in their home country as well as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's arrest: "We want Bashar in The Hague now!" and " Stop the butcher!" read some of their placards.

"The goal of our move here in front of the ICC is to put pressure on the regime," said Kawa Rashid, 38.

"If the prosecutor leads a preliminary analysis, the pressure will be there," he added.

Since Friday, at least 40 people have been killed in Syria, including 35 in a security sweep in Jisr al-Shughur, which was a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s and borders Turkey, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

But Syria's opposition movement keeps swelling despite the regime's repressive measures which have left more than 1,100 people dead, according to rights groups, and sparked worldwide condemnation and sanctions against key regime figures, including the president.

Established in 2002, the ICC is the world's first permanent, treaty-based court set up to try those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide if the accused's own country cannot or will not do so.

Original post: NGOs want world prosecutor's "preliminary analysis" on Syria

Syrian Opposition Remains Divided on Engagement

By Samer Araabi

WASHINGTON, Jul 5, 2011 (IPS) - Despite countless attempts by the Bashar al-Assad regime to subdue the sporadic protests that have appeared across Syria since February, the demonstrations have consistently grown in both size and intensity.

Last week, a march in the town of Hama may have attracted over 100,000 protestors, quite likely the largest anti-Assad demonstration in Syria thus far.

While the opposition grows, however, its leadership remains bitterly divided, geographically disparate, and unable to agree on tactics to oust the Assad regime or a collective political vision for a post- Assad future.

As another round of crackdowns broke out this week, opposition figures in Syria and abroad have continued to battle one another on the central question of how to engage with the regime.

At a meeting last week in Washington hosted by the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the New American Foundation, policy analysts and international advocates met with Syrian American figures involved in the opposition movement to discuss the role of the international community in resolving the Syrian crisis.

A particularly passionate debate raged around the role of the United States in assisting the Syrian opposition movement. Some, such as international human rights lawyer Yaser Tabbara, argued that Washington was purposely pulling its punches, and could be doing much more to help.

Over the course of the morning, Tabbara called for tighter sanctions, stronger condemnations of government heavy-handedness, more international political leverage, and a direct appeal from President Barack Obama for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government.

Others, including author and historian Mark Perry, gave words of support for the Syrian people, but asked the audience, "What should we do? Nothing. This is a revolution in the hands of the Syrian people."

Perry was confident in the "inevitability" of the revolution, but maintained that "a revolution is very difficult to stop, to influence, or to make succeed. They have their own internal dynamic."

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, a professor at the College of William & Mary and the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, agreed that the U.S. had very limited leverage, and a very low willingness to use it.

He reminded attendees that all policy decisions "have to be considered in a bigger tapestry than just Syria", adding that "the U.S. strategic interests in the region are significant in other countries where there's turmoil going on. We have to handle this with finesse, in the scope of U.S. national interests, against a fiscal backdrop that's absolutely frightening. To ask [the Assad regime] for some kind of deadline without backing it up with the threat of force, or to ask for any more adamant position of the United States, is not useful."

Many others took a middle road, recognising that U.S. leverage was minimal at best, but certain small steps could be taken to assist the Syrian resistance without overextending Washington's reach.

Nuh Yilmaz, director of the Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research, tried to demonstrate Turkey's inclination to take a middle path by refusing to "have a civil war on its border" while trying to maintain relationships with both the Assad regime and the protest movement.

Yilmaz argued that it was in Turkey's strategic interest – and consequently, regional strategic interest – to ensure that Assad produces real reforms and that the opposition moderates their demands.

He emphasised the "need to be strategic" and make better use of the international community's limited leverage, but others were less willing to recognise any legitimacy for the Assad regime.

"The regime is inflexible, and therefore irredeemable," said Louay Safi, a member of the Syrian American Council. He urged the international community to "choke the security apparatus in Syria, make sure they're not getting any outside funding…and take legal action."

The disagreement on the fundamental question of foreign intervention comes as U.S. diplomats have struggled to chart a strategic course in Syria, often deciding on a middle ground that neither side finds particularly satisfying.

Last week, the State Department was rumoured to have put forward a "roadmap" for Syrian reforms that would allow Assad to remain in power while overseeing a number of democratic reforms in the country. The roadmap calls for the Syrian government to appoint a "transitional assembly" to oversee the instatement of open elections, the legalization of political parties, and the loosening of media restrictions.

Though Washington has denied pushing for the roadmap, a number of Syrian opposition members have claimed that official sources, including U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, have been encouraging the opposition to seek common ground with Assad.

Many figures, however, have openly condemned the roadmap, reiterating the idea that such reforms are "too little, too late", and calling for nothing less than the downfall of the regime and its Ba'ath party supporters.

These overtures for compromise, emanating from Turkey, and to a lesser extent, the U.S., may be beginning to have an effect on Assad. A large opposition meeting held in Damascus, with the permission of state authorities, was held last week at the Semiramis hotel, the first of its kind in decades.

More recently, government figures have openly invited representatives of the opposition for talks, another first.

The reaction to these developments has underscored the tension between those willing to work with the regime and those who have rejected it categorically.

Though many elements of the opposition blasted the Damascus meeting as a "government sanctioned-ruse", others hailed the gathering as deeply significant.

The divisions within the opposition have shown few signs of easing. Though many signs point to a significant weakening of the Assad regime, no movement as yet appears ready to replace it.

(END)

Original post: Syrian Opposition Remains Divided on Engagement

Chicago Tribune: Chicago protesters rally against Syria's government

By Dawn RhodesTribune reporter

8:40 p.m. CDT, July 3, 2011

A crowd of about 500 gathered in a downtown Chicago parking lot this afternoon to support anti-government protesters in Syria, just as worldwide media reported that military action in a western city stoked fears of more violence.

Leaders from Syrian and Islamic organizations in Chicago urged people to continue their stance against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which has been widely criticized for brutally quashing anti-government movements throughout the country.

“Bashar Assad is at war with his own people. He is at war with Syria. He is at war with Syrians,” said Yaser Tabbara, executive director of the Syrian American Council. “We are here to tell the world that we stand behind our brothers and sisters on the ground in Syria.”

Protesters lined the sidewalk holding signs that read “Stop Genocide” and “Assad = Hitler.” Young children stood alongside parents and friends, proudly waving the Syrian flag and chanting in Arabic.

“It’s not just a Syrian cause, it’s a cause for everyone who seeks freedom and equality,” said Kifah Mustapha, associate director of the Mosque Foundation. “It’s an Arab Spring, but it’s a righteous cause.”

The Syrian revolution follows in the footsteps of other popular uprisings in northern Africa and the Middle East. Thousands in Syria have been killed or wounded since protests began in March, according to the Syrian American Council.

In the past several weeks, dozens of people were reportedly killed in various cities as military forces opened fire on crowds. On Sunday, troops and tanks were reportedly surrounding the western city of Hama, the site of another violent crackdown when President Assad’s late father spearheaded an attack to crush an uprising in 1982.

“There’s always sacrifice for freedom. It’s not easy,” said Ahmad Jajeh, 53, of Lincoln Park who hails from Hama. “It’s time for us to live like the other free countries in the world.”

“We’re living in a world now where there is no room for totalitarianism, dictatorships and oppression,” said Christina Abraham, civil rights director for the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Chicago. “When we see these movements happening, we need to support them. We don’t give leeway to governments that violate human rights, like the Assad government is doing right now.”

While most protesters were focused on ousting Assad, Sherry Alhayek, 23, of Schaumburg said that getting new leadership was only half the battle.

“For me, the point is to get Syria to a higher point and not just getting rid of the regime,” she said. “I want a better future.”

Tabbara also took the time to imagine a post-Assad future as a CTA Brown Line train passed above.

“One day, we’re going to have a train like that in Syria, in Damascus. We’ll call it the Freedom Train,” he said to the crowd’s roaring approval.

“Once we get rid of this regime, we’re going to develop this country like we should.”

cdrhodes@tribune.com

Original post: Chicago protesters rally against Syria's government

Fighting the Syrian Regime From a Chicago Office

Yaser Tabbara may live half a world away from Syria, where he grew up. But as the uprising there continues, the Chicago lawyer has mounted a one-man legal and diplomatic assault against the Syrian regime to highlight the brutality of its response and help depose President Bashar al-Assad.

In recent weeks, Mr. Tabbara, 35, attended opposition conferences in Turkey and Belgium, and spoke at policy forums in Qatar and Washington. He also built a case for the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to charge the Syrian government with crimes against humanity, and he helped draft a letter to the United Nations Security Council calling for urgent action -- all while communicating with protesters inside Syria and occasionally representing his law firm's clients in Chicago courts.

Few people would seem better qualified to lend external support to the uprising. A human rights lawyer born in Chicago and raised in Damascus, Mr. Tabbara has a long history of activism and is practiced in Western justice as well as in the ways of international courts and Syrian politics.

Since mid-March, Mr. Assad has turned his security and military forces loose on the protesters; activists say some 1,400 Syrians have been killed. Watching from afar, Mr. Tabbara said he had been motivated by "a very objective sense of outrage and a sense of responsibility that this country cannot be led by this Mafia-esque gang."

Such views represent a shift for a man who last year worked with an international organization to improve Syria's judicial and legal systems. Just months ago, he had been scheduled to meet with Asma al-Assad, the president's wife, to discuss the creation of a Syrian version of Teach for America, which trains prospective teachers who commit to spending two years in classrooms in cities and rural communities.

That meeting was canceled after the protests began, and Mr. Tabbara said he had changed his mind about trying to reform the system after he saw Syrian security forces shoot peaceful protesters and listened to the "insulting, conspiracy-minded" speeches of Mr. Assad.

"I've always been a firm believer that democracy doesn't happen overnight," Mr. Tabbara said. But the uprising in Syria, coming on the heels of the more peaceful regime-toppling revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, has convinced him that the process can be expedited.

"A lot of these gradual reforms, which had never been fulfilled, now have a chance," he said.

Ammar Bayrakdar, a Syrian physician who moved to the United States in 1990 and has been active in the sizable Chicago-area Syrian community, approves of the shift.

"Now he's trying to organize the opposition effort, and we support him," Dr. Bayrakdar said. "He's very knowledgeable and eloquent, and a sincere individual."

Local Syrian groups have organized forums, protests and rallies, and have backed e-mail campaigns to the White House, the Syrian ambassador and representatives in Congress.

Such activism is old hat for Mr. Tabbara, who moved back to the United States to attend college in the mid-'90s. After earning his law degree from DePaul University, he provided legal representation to Chicago-area Muslim and Arab communities after 9/11. He also spent a year teaching international human rights law at the University of Kalamoon in Damascus and working with local organizations to improve education in Syria.

Back in Chicago, in 2008, Mr. Tabbara was a founder of Zarzour, Khalil & Tabbara, a law firm started with fellow DePaul alumni that mainly assists nonprofit organizations and immigrants with legal issues. Last year he rolled out Project Mobilize, an organization that supports Muslim political candidates in the Chicago area.

Since the antigovernment protest began in Syria on March 15, the movement has spread across the country and has faced increasingly bloody suppression. Mr. Tabbara said he had been in regular contact with the leaders of groups organizing protests, as well as with friends, family and former students. Some among the latter three groups have been wary about supporting the movement, in part because many middle-class families have long relied on the regime for their welfare.

But that may be changing. "These groups will join the movement in large numbers soon," Mr. Tabbara predicted. "I know people that belong to that class who have been working very hard trying to mobilize people."

Some analysts believe that with dwindling financial resources and increasing international pressure, the Assad regime may be teetering.

At a news conference on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "It is absolutely clear that the Syrian government is running out of time."

Mr. Tabbara said he is confident the rebels will succeed. "These are not people willing to back down," he said. "They will not accept anything but a complete regime change."

He added that he is unsure of the impact he and others have had on the movement for change in Syria but that the effort is nonetheless worthwhile.

"I'd like to think we are raising awareness, spreading correct information about the revolution, informing governments and officials about what's taking place on the ground," Mr. Tabbara said. "It definitely counters the diplomatic activism the regime has been engaged in."

By David Lepeska
New York Times

Original post: Fighting the Syrian Regime From a Chicago Office

Fighting the Syrian Regime From a Chicago Office

By DAVID LEPESKA

Published: July 2, 2011

Yaser Tabbara may live half a world away from Syria, where he grew up. But as the uprising there continues, the Chicago lawyer has mounted a one-man legal and diplomatic assault against the Syrian regime to highlight the brutality of its response and help depose President Bashar al-Assad.

In recent weeks, Mr. Tabbara, 35, attended opposition conferences in Turkey and Belgium, and spoke at policy forums in Qatar and Washington. He also built a case for the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to charge the Syrian government with crimes against humanity, and he helped draft a letter to the United Nations Security Council calling for urgent action — all while communicating with protesters inside Syria and occasionally representing his law firm’s clients in Chicago courts.

Few people would seem better qualified to lend external support to the uprising. A human rights lawyer born in Chicago and raised in Damascus, Mr. Tabbara has a long history of activism and is practiced in Western justice as well as in the ways of international courts and Syrian politics.

Since mid-March, Mr. Assad has turned his security and military forces loose on the protesters; activists say some 1,400 Syrians have been killed. Watching from afar, Mr. Tabbara said he had been motivated by “a very objective sense of outrage and a sense of responsibility that this country cannot be led by this Mafia-esque gang.”

Such views represent a shift for a man who last year worked with an international organization to improve Syria’s judicial and legal systems. Just months ago, he had been scheduled to meet with Asma al-Assad, the president’s wife, to discuss the creation of a Syrian version of Teach for America, which trains prospective teachers who commit to spending two years in classrooms in cities and rural communities.

That meeting was canceled after the protests began, and Mr. Tabbara said he had changed his mind about trying to reform the system after he saw Syrian security forces shoot peaceful protesters and listened to the “insulting, conspiracy-minded” speeches of Mr. Assad.

“I’ve always been a firm believer that democracy doesn’t happen overnight,” Mr. Tabbara said. But the uprising in Syria, coming on the heels of the more peaceful regime-toppling revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, has convinced him that the process can be expedited.

“A lot of these gradual reforms, which had never been fulfilled, now have a chance,” he said.

Ammar Bayrakdar, a Syrian physician who moved to the United States in 1990 and has been active in the sizable Chicago-area Syrian community, approves of the shift.

“Now he’s trying to organize the opposition effort, and we support him,” Dr. Bayrakdar said. “He’s very knowledgeable and eloquent, and a sincere individual.”

Local Syrian groups have organized forums, protests and rallies, and have backed e-mail campaigns to the White House, the Syrian ambassador and representatives in Congress.

Such activism is old hat for Mr. Tabbara, who moved back to the United States to attend college in the mid-’90s. After earning his law degree from DePaul University, he provided legal representation to Chicago-area Muslim and Arab communities after 9/11. He also spent a year teaching international human rights law at the University of Kalamoon in Damascus and working with local organizations to improve education in Syria.

Back in Chicago, in 2008, Mr. Tabbara was a founder of Zarzour, Khalil and Tabbara, a law firm started with fellow DePaul alumni that mainly assists nonprofit organizations and immigrants with legal issues. Last year he rolled out Project Mobilize, an organization that supports Muslim political candidates in the Chicago area.

Since the antigovernment protest began in Syria on March 15, the movement has spread across the country and has faced increasingly bloody suppression. Mr. Tabbara said he had been in regular contact with the leaders of groups organizing protests, as well as with friends, family and former students. Some among the latter three groups have been wary about supporting the movement, in part because many middle-class families have long relied on the regime for their welfare.

But that may be changing. “These groups will join the movement in large numbers soon,” Mr. Tabbara predicted. “I know people that belong to that class who have been working very hard trying to mobilize people.”

Some analysts believe that with dwindling financial resources and increasing international pressure, the Assad regime may be teetering.

At a news conference on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “It is absolutely clear that the Syrian government is running out of time.”

Mr. Tabbara said he is confident the rebels will succeed. “These are not people willing to back down,” he said. “They will not accept anything but a complete regime change.”

He added that he is unsure of the impact he and others have had on the movement for change in Syria but that the effort is nonetheless worthwhile.

“I’d like to think we are raising awareness, spreading correct information about the revolution, informing governments and officials about what’s taking place on the ground,” Mr. Tabbara said. “It definitely counters the diplomatic activism the regime has been engaged in.”

david.lepeska@gmail.com

Original post: Fighting the Syrian Regime From a Chicago Office

WKSU: Kucinich: a matter of interpretation

Syrian American Council says it finds it hard to believe that the representative's quotes about Syria were simply mistranslated
Story by Anna Staver

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich is saying that Syria’s official government news agency mistranslated his comments that appeared to praise Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Kucinich has been visiting Syria and Lebanon this week, and the Syrian Arab News Agency quoted him Tuesday as saying that Assad is beloved by his people and committed to reforms. More than a thousand Syrians have been killed since protests erupted in March. Yaser Tabbara is the executive director of the Syrian American Council, and he says he is not buying Kucinich’s explanation.

Tabbara explains Other options: Windows Media / MP3 Download (0:22)

Tabbara says he and others in his community were shocked by the Cleveland congressman’s comments given what he calls Kucinich’s outstanding record on human rights issues. Kucinich has said he believes that a diplomatic solution is possible in Syria.

Original post: WKSU: Kucinich: a matter of interpretation

Kucinich's 'Mistranslation' Excuse, Unpacked

URI FRIEDMANJUN 29, 2011

Three days into his unofficial "fact-finding" mission in Syria, Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich is beginning to feel the heat back home for meeting with Syria's Bashar al-Assad and appearing to defend the President amidst the regime's brutal response to the Syrian uprising. On Tuesday, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency quoted Kucinich as praising the regime for seeking to end the violence, characterizing Assad as "highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians," and telling reporters at his hotel that some foreign news outlets want to "give a wrong picture about what is going on in Syria."

In a statement on Tuesday, Kucinich claimed, rather vaguely, that SANA may have inadvertently "mistranslated" some of his remarks, perhaps in part because of the "degree of appreciation and affection their state-sponsored media has for President Assad"--hardly a ringing denunciation of the agency's report. Foreign Policy's David Kenner didn't buy that explanation, since he imagined Kucinich made his remarks in English and SANA wouldn't have had to translate them. In what appears to be the only other account of the press gathering, CNN's Hala Gorani, who is in Damascus on assignment, wrote on Twitter, "Kucinich said Assad sees himself as 'father of the country' and is really 'concerned' about situation."

How does Kucinich's office respond to Kenner's skepticism about the mistranslation claims? The congressman's communications director, Nathan White, tells The Atlantic Wire that while Kucinich made his remarks in English, the journalists he was speaking with were using Arabic-language translators. White assumes that the SANA story was written up in Arabic and translated back into English, though he can't confirm this assumption (indeed, there is an Arabic version of the story on SANA's website). White also can't confirm whether the journalists at the hotel were from SANA.

Meanwhile, a backlash is brewing. In an editorial today the congressman's hometown Cleveland Plain-Dealer writes that while Kucinich says he's in Syria to "promote peace"--a cause he's undoubtedly committed to--"that isn't the likely effect of accepting the Syrian government's invitation to visit when an unknown number of Syrian protesters are dead and 12,000 refugees have fled to Turkey. Kucinich is allowing Assad to use him as a propaganda tool. And not for the first time" (Kucinich also met with Assad in 2007 and praised him on Syrian TV for pursuing peace in Iraq).

Criticism is coming from both the left and the right. Salon's Justin Elliott notes that Kucinich's alleged statements about Syrians' love for Assad and the regime's efforts to end the violence contradict "the reported facts" on the ground. The American Spectator's John Tabin writes that "while I have no doubt that SANA made Kucinich's remarks sound more pro-Assad than they were, that hardly absolves him of responsibility for appearing in Damascus in the first place." In comments to The Daily Caller, the American Enterprise Institute's Michael Rubin goes further: "Just as former Kennedy-era attorney general Ramsey Clark shilled for Ayatollah Khomeini, and British parliamentarian George Galloway shilled for Saddam Hussein, it seems that the Syrian dictator has found his useful idiot."

Salon raises another point: What does this incident mean for Kucinich's well-known anti-war credentials? If SANA's report is accurate, Elliott argues, "the congressman's reputation as someone who is serious about human rights will sustain serious damage." Politico situates the visit with Assad in a "string of eccentric incidents" involving the one-time presidential candidate. Kucinich's decision to "sue a House cafeteria over an olive pit that cracked his tooth has negatively affected his reputation," the paper writes, and "his April 2011 appearance on the Daily Show as a ventriloquist was seen by critics as bizarre." More recently, Kucinich has grabbed headlines for his opposition to President Obama's Libya campaign.

Update: Politico reports that there's another group mad at Kucinich: the Syrian-American Council, a U.S.-based Syrian opposition group. The organization's executive director, Yaser Tabbara, states that while Kucinich has a "record of standing up for what's principled and what's right in terms of human rights abuses," it's "mindboggling and confusing" that he's now "making these irresponsible, brash statements in support of the dictator ruling Syria and the person deemed to be an illegitimate president."

Here's a clip of Gorani's interview with Kucinich at his "press conference" in Damascus on Tuesday, which appears to have been more of an informal press gathering (in the clip, analyst Fouad Ajami also criticizes Kucinich):

Original post: Kucinich's 'Mistranslation' Excuse, Unpacked

Syrian group wants Rep. Dennis Kucinich to apologize for Syria comments

By Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Syrian American group on Wednesday urged Cleveland Rep. Dennis Kucinich to apologize the Syrian people for making comments it called "political propaganda" and "out of touch with reality" after he visited the embattled Middle Eastern country this week and met with its president and opposition leaders.

Syrian American Council executive director M. Yaser Tabbara of Chicago said in an interview that the nation's president, Bashar al-Assad, has "lost his legitimacy" because he "heads a regime that is engaged in severe and horrid human rights violations against his own people."

More than 1,000 people have been killed since anti-government protests began in Syria, and many more have been arrested.

Tabbara called Kucinich's assertion that people in Syria want Assad to remain in power and reform the government "clueless" and "very misinformed." He said Assad is responsible for atrocities committed by the armed forces, wants to stay in power at all costs, and is using Kucinich for propaganda purposes.

Kucinich met with Assad on Monday, and later told The Plain Dealer that Assad takes calls for change seriously and wants to address his people's concerns. In an emailed response to the Syrian American group's claims, Kucinich said he shares the concerns about violence that the group "rightly decries."

"I went to Syria to meet with as many parties as I could, including leaders in the opposition, people who are directly involved with trying to bring change to Syria," Kucinich said. "I also wanted to learn if President Assad was himself prepared to accept their just demands for freedoms and reforms."

He said "the importance of trying to reach out to obtain as many views as possible cannot be underestimated" and that he would be happy to speak with the group and other interested parties when he returns to the United States.

Kucinich says that a Tuesday report by Syrian's official government news agency, which claimed that he said Assad is "highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians" mistranslated his remarks.

He also said a State Department claim on Tuesday that his trip was arranged by the Syrian government was incorrect. The State Department issued a clarification on Wednesday, which said Kucinich "is traveling at his own instance and at the request of his constituents." His visit is financed by Cleveland's Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services. The group did not return requests for comment on Wednesday.

A Damascus-based participant in Kucinich's Tuesday meeting with political opposition members supported Kucinich's contention that many in Syria want Assad to stay in power and implement reforms.

Ibrahim Hamidi, the Damascus Bureau Chief for the pan-Arab newspaper Al-hayat, said in an email that he told Kucinich that Syria is "very different from Tunisia and Egypt."

"In these two countries, people went down to the street to change their presidents," said Hamidi, who stressed that he is not personally part of the opposition because he is an independent journalist. "But, in Syria, people and many of the opposition want President Assad to lead the reform process."

Another participant in Kucinich's meeting, Damascus engineer Salim Kheirbek, said in an email that Syrians seek "radical reforms to be done by the president," after a "national dialogue."

"After almost four months of demonstrations and violence, the demonstrators couldn't throw out the regime and at the same time the regime couldn't finish with the protesters the matter which led to a national crises," said the email from Kheirbek, who was jailed by the Syrian regime for a dozen years.

Kheirbek said opposition members believe having Assad implement reforms makes sense because he's legally Syria's president, "and this is the only way (until now) to do reforms safely and keep the country far from chaos and unknown destiny."

"We ask to have Mr. Assad to be implementing the reforms in a certain transition period not because this is good for the president but because this is good for Syria and its people," Kheirbek's email said. He said the fact that some people in Syria like Assad "should not neglect the other fact that there are much more people who ask for radical changes which should transfer Syria from its dictatorship regime to democratic, multiple parties, etc . . . Syria with free people."

Original post: Syrian group wants Rep. Dennis Kucinich to apologize for Syria comments

CNN.com: Syrian ambassador to France denies having resigned

By the CNN Wire Staff

Paris (CNN) -- Syria's ambassador to France, Lamia Shakkour, denied Tuesday that she has resigned her post, declaring late in the day that she would remain in her job until President Bashar al-Assad no longer wants her to remain in it.

"At no moment have I thought about doing anything other than serving my country," she told CNN affiliate BFM in an interview carried out in front of a picture of Assad at the Syrian Embassy in Paris.

Shakkour's status had been in doubt since the afternoon, when the television network France 24 broadcast a telephone interview from a woman it identified as Shakkour. During the interview, the woman said she was resigning because of violence in Syria.

"I cannot support the cycle of extreme violence ... ignore the young men, women and children who have died," she said.

But that interview was quickly followed by another telephone interview, broadcast on Syrian state TV, in which a woman also identifying herself as Shakkour denied having resigned, saying, "I am an integral part of this nation."

The woman in the Syrian interview said she plans to sue the French news channel and give the proceeds to the children of "martyrs."

That threat was repeated in Shakkour's BFM interview, which was carried out on camera. "I am filing a complaint to the French tribunal and also to the international tribunal, and there will probably be some measures against France 24," she said.

Shakkour denounced what she said was France 24's misrepresentation of her. "It was a lie," she said. "I accuse them of misinterpretation, false information, misuse of my identity and passing messages under my name."

Shakkour accused the network of following an agenda. "It's part of a campaign of misinformation by France 24, since the beginning of March, in which it gives voice only to dissidents of Syria and it falsifies videos."

In an interview with CNN carried out after the two dueling telephone interviews but before the BFM on-camera interview, France 24's deputy editorial director, Renee Kaplan, called the situation "very puzzling."

Kaplan said her network had invited Shakkour to be a guest on Tuesday night's program, which focused on Syria. "She has been a guest on our network before," said Kaplan, who added that station personnel reached Shakkour on a cell phone number that she had answered in the past.

Asked about Shakkour's later statement that she was not planning to resign, Kaplan said, "Something may have occurred between the time she made the declaration on our network and the time she made the declaration on another network."

Kaplan added, "We are confident that the person we addressed on air was she. There is no other reason to believe that anyone else would have answered on the number."

The confusion came the day before the U.N. Security Council is to discuss a proposed resolution regarding Syria. It was not clear when a vote on the resolution would take place, though Britain and France have said they would like it to take place by Friday.

The Security Council has been criticized for failing to act to stem the violence in Syria. Russia blocked a previous French-British resolution on Syria.

On Tuesday, a delegation of representatives from Syrian and international human rights groups visited the International Criminal Court to press for an investigation into human rights abuses in Syria. The Hague, Netherlands-based court has conducted a similar investigation in Libya.

The group asked ICC officials to review evidence of alleged abuses in the nation, which has been wracked by anti-government protests and a government crackdown for nearly three months.

It is hoping that investigators will determine that crimes could have been committed, a conclusion that might pressure the U.N. Security Council to refer the case to the ICC.

"The international community has to do something to prevent this," said M. Yaser Tabbara, a Chicago attorney working with human rights groups. "Pressure has to be mounted."

An ICC spokesman confirmed that the delegation submitted information and that it will review whether the court has jurisdiction in the case.

The issue of ICC involvement in the Syrian situation has been broached by others, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Australia's foreign minister.

"It must also take decisive action and refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court," Philip Luther, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said Monday.

"Those responsible for the brutal crackdown of pro-reform protesters must no longer be allowed to get away with murder," he said.

However, getting the Syrian case before the ICC would not be easy.

Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, meaning the court has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Syria by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

But intervention by the ICC on the alleged crimes committed in Syria could occur, Tabbara said.

Under one scenario, Syrian authorities could simply accept the jurisdiction of the court, he said.

The court also would have jurisdiction if people who committed the alleged crimes in Syria or victims of Syrian abuses are citizens of a country that is a signatory to the Rome Statute, he said.

And the U.N. Security Council could decide to refer the situation to the court.

Tabbara said the delegation met with Mark Dillon, the head of the ICC prosecutor office's information and evidence unit.

The group provided a formal "communication" under an article of the Rome Statute with evidence of abuses and asked the court to pursue the "necessary preliminary examinations and analysis" of alleged crimes.

Tabbara is hoping that ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will determine that what is occurring in Syria amounts to a systematic campaign of crimes against humanity.

If he does, it could "highlight the seriousness of the situation internationally" and pressure the Security Council to refer the case to the ICC.

Tabbara noted that Libya also is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, but the U.N. Security Council referred the case to ICC jurisdiction after seeing evidence of alleged crimes there.

The delegation included family members of victims who have been killed on camera and who have a pending lawsuit in U.S. courts against the Syrian regime.

The activists said they have documented more than 1,168 deaths, 3,000 injuries, 893 forced disappearances, 11,000 arbitrary detentions and the existence of mass graves.

Among the groups that signed the communication are the Syrian National Organization for Human Rights, the Syrian Center for Human Rights Studies, the Union of Syrian Kurds in the Netherlands, and Insan, a human rights groups.

Criticism of Syria mounted Tuesday after scores of people died in recent days in the cities of Hama and Jisr Al-Shugur.

The British Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament on Tuesday that al-Assad is "losing legitimacy" and should "step aside."

He added that the Britain is working to persuade other countries to lobby for U.N. Security Council sanctions against Syria.

Original post: Syrian ambassador to France denies having resigned