One of the most feared men in Syria before his assassination, Assef Shawkat told me minority rights were a CIA invention.
Ammar Abdulhamid, guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 July 2012 07.58 EDT
“The country is not ready for revolutions and civil disobedience,” he told me.
“That’s your opinion,” I replied.
“We won’t imprison you and let your friends in America turn you into a hero.” Continue reading “The day I met Syria’s Mr Big”
Quoted by Los Angeles Times Staff
Echoing the sentiments of the more cautious activists and observers, Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S. based-Syrian human rights activist and fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in one of his daily roundup emails last week, “Something is definitely looming in Syria, but it’s not end game. It’s more like the end of Round One.“
Unbeknownst to most Americans, reports suggest that the rebels fighting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad may have taken control of a growing portion of the country, and may now be closer to wresting it away from him altogether. While some Syrian soldiers have defected to Turkey, many more are deserting, or simply refusing to fight. Is Assad’s central authority breaking down? Are new power brokers emerging? If so, how can the United States and its allies prevent further humanitarian catastrophe? Continue reading “Assad’s Coming Downfall?”
Cited by Seyward Darby, Transitions Online
PRISTINA | A few weeks ago, three Syrian opposition activists arrived in this small Balkan capital for a short visit. The trio stayed in a hotel downtown – “nothing fancy,” according to one of the activists – and met with various local dignitaries, including Kosovo’s foreign minister, advisers to the president, and the mayor of Pristina. Continue reading “The Pristina-Damascus Connection”
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 