‘Syria in danger of repeating Libyan scenario’
London-based political analyst Chris Bambery told RT that there have recently been increased calls for foreign intervention in Syria, mostly by the Syrian National Council.
Bambery drew attention to the similarities between Syria now and Libya just before the intervention – like, for instance, its suspension from the League of Arab States. And a recently released Human Rights Watch report is not representative of the events taking place in the Middle Eastern state because there are many factors in play which could potentially affect the outcome of the situation.“People on the ground are, by and large, opposing foreign intervention,” Bambery said. “People that have been organizing demonstrations have not come up with a demand for Western intervention. This is coming, I think, as extraneous to the movement and I think we should oppose it. They’ve said they are against the violent overthrow of the Assad regime; they want to see it toppled by peaceful means and I think that should be applauded. We don’t want to see Syria go down the road of civil war.”Unrest in Syria continues, with Syrian activists saying 27 state security officers have been killed by army defectors in the southern province of Deraa. President Bashar al-Assad denies these claims, saying the numbers are trumped up by the rebels. And there may be some truth to the idea of ulterior motives, says Bambery. “In a popular revolution, other forces are trying to move in and take it over and use it for their own ends”, Bambery told RT. “Like, for example, the Syrian National Council, which is both inside and outside the country, said in an interview to the Wall Street Journal that if it gained power, it would sever ties with Iraq, it would sever ties with Hamas and Hezbollah, it would treat Russia as a special relationship – which does not sound very good – and it would strengthen ties with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the other Gulf States and with America and France. That would seem to me an agenda which would be joyous to the people in power in Washington and Paris and Saudi Arabia.”
