The only way to end the violence gripping Syria is by “political dialogue”, a top Syrian politician said in an interview published Thursday.
“The only way out is by political dialogue — with no preconditions,” Minister for National Reconciliation told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.
Haidar, in office since June, said that he had developed a “mechanism for reconciliation” which could bring Syria’s rebels back into the fold, based on similar models used for IRA and ETA separatists.
“The very fact that President Assad created a ministry for national reconciliation shows his willingness (to see through) this political process,” he said.
Haidar also criticised “foreign interference”, blaming it for transforming Syrians’ “partly justified complaints” into a widespread rebellion against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Such interference “only served Israel’s interests”, he said. Nationwide, 163 people were killed on Wednesday in a worsening conflict that has caused the deaths of more than 20,000 since violence erupted in mid-March last year, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
