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Syria dissident group set up 'to protect state institutions'
[Al Ahram] Syrian opponents announced in Amman on Saturday the establishment of the new Free National Gathering aimed at "protecting state institutions" should the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Terror of Aleppo
fall.

Chief among the gathering's constituents was defected prime minister Riad Hijab, who fled to Jordan with his family in August.

"We have set up this gathering in order to protect 1.5 million people employed in Syrian state institutions," said former deputy oil minister Abdo Hussamedin, who defecting to Jordan in March.

The leadership of the new group brings together seven opposition figures, and will be based out of Doha, with Hijab slated to hold the top post.

Some 30 opposition figures, including key Syrian National Coalition members, attended the gathering's first meeting.

The group aims to "effectively contribute to the (opposition) National Coalition's project... which we are all working with in order to bring down the regime," said former MP Ikhlas Badawi, who defected in July.

The National Coalition, founded in Doha early last month, has been recognised by dozens of states and international organizations as the sole representative of the Syrian people.

Badawi also said the new Gathering would help "build a democratic, diverse and modern state."

"We work to support state employees who are sympathetic to the revolt (against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad) and to safeguard state institutions and peace, now that the fall of the regime is imminent," a first blurb said.
Posted by: Fred 2012-12-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=358130