Few Notes on Russia’s Policy Towards Syria & the Middle East

Moscow / May 21, 2012

A successful return by Russia as a major player in the Middle East requires more than the ability to play the role of spoiler of perceived American policies and designs in the region. Russia has to adopt her own clear policies and objectives. Else, Russia’s longer term interests in the region will be hurt, and her ability to spoil others’ policies would eventually backfire.

Forming such objectives and approaches calls for developing a better grasp of the current political and demographic shifts in the region and their basic underlying causes. Continue reading “Few Notes on Russia’s Policy Towards Syria & the Middle East” →

Text of speech introducing President Bush at Freedom Collection launch in D.C.

Good morning. My name is Ammar Abdulhamid. I am a Syrian dissident. In September 2005, I was forced to leave my country for criticizing President Bashar Al-Assad.

In exile I have lived in Washington with my loving family: my wife, Khawla, our daughter, Oula, and our son, Mouhanad. Together, with help from our friends here and in Syria, and with funding from the Middle East Partnership Initiative, a program established by President George W. Bush, we launched a foundation dedicated to supporting pro-democracy activists in Syria and across the Middle East. Continue reading “Text of speech introducing President Bush at Freedom Collection launch in D.C.” →

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” →