George Sabra, the new head of the Syrian National Council, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in an interview that the international community should support those trying to topple
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
without strings attached, rather than linking aid to an overhaul of the opposition leadership.
Sabra, a Christian and a veteran left-wing dissident who was repeatedly imprisoned by the regime, said he and others in the opposition feel let down by their Western and Arab allies.
The Syrian opposition may have many foreign friends, he said, "but unfortunately we get nothing from them, except some statements, some encouragement." The regime "has few friends, but these friends give the regime everything," he added, referring to Assad allies Russia, China and Iran.
The U.S. has become increasingly frustrated with the SNC's failure to forge a cohesive and more representative leadership, which would provide a single conduit for future foreign support. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
... sometimes described as
America's Blond Eminenceand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Tallyrand...
harshly criticized the group late last month.
Sabra, 65, headed an SNC delegation Saturday in talks with rival opposition groups on forging a new, broader opposition leadership.
The SNC has been reluctant to join such a group, fearing it would lose influence within a larger platform. Under the reform plan presented by another veteran dissident, Riad Seif, the SNC would receive only about one-third of 60 seats to make room for more activists from inside Syria.
Sabra said the SNC agrees that unity within opposition ranks is important, but suggested it would not accept a deal that could lead to its demise.
Senior SNC members portrayed the meeting as the beginning of what could be days of negotiations over the size and mission of such a group.