Syrian Uprising Shifts Toward Suicide Bombings. Al Qaeda’s Handiwork?

Quoted by Nicholas Blanford, The Christian Science Monitor

“The only Al Qaeda cells that operate in Syria are those manipulated by Assad’s security apparatuses,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a US-based Syrian opposition activist in an online newsletter emailed today. “The suicide bombings are directly staged or facilitated by them. Issues pertaining to the timing and the real beneficiaries, and everything we know about the Assads’ involvement in terror networks, all point in this direction.”

Mr. Abdulhamid’s post carried a YouTube link that quotes Walid Muallem, Syria’s foreign minister, telling a news conference in Damascus in December that suicide bombings would not be an “embarrassment” for the government but would bestow “credibility” upon its claim that it is under threat from Islamist militants.

Syrian Opposition Activists Ask Kosovo for Advice

Quoted by the Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo – A Syrian dissident said Thursday his country’s opposition is turning to Kosovo’s former rebels-turned-politicians for advice on how to topple Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus.

Ammar Abdulhamid, an exiled anti-Assad activist, said that seeing a new country “emerging out of the nightmare and emerging as a state” could be inspiring for Syrian dissidents. Continue reading “Syrian Opposition Activists Ask Kosovo for Advice” →

UN Mission in Syria Faces Criticism

Quoted by Matt Vasilogambros, National Journal

For some anti-Assad activists, those aren’t enough to successfully overturn the regime. Ammar Abdulhamid, a Damascus-born activist serving as a fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said he does not expect the U.N. mission to work because of Russia’s current support of the Assad regime. Continue reading “UN Mission in Syria Faces Criticism” →

Syrian Ceasefire Lasts Just Six Hours

Quoted by Rick Dewsbury, The Daily Mail – UK

Ammar Abdulhamid, an influential Syrian human rights activist, told Fox News that given Assad’s habit of breaking promises ‘there was no reason for anyone to be surprised by the turn of events.’ Abdulhamid, who fled Syria in 2005 and has since lived in the U.S. said members of the main opposition groups, representing all political and religious backgrounds, helped draw up the new six-point plan.