Syria rebukes Khaddam's remarks
Comments by former Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam that President Bashar Assad had threatened Lebanese Premier Hariri sparked scathing reactions with lawmakers calling Khaddam be tried and sentenced for ‘lying’ and betraying country
Khaddam made the claim Friday as he declared a formal break with President Bashar Assad in a television interview for al-Arabiya, citing corruption within the regime and its failure to reform.
Some staunch Baathist parliamentarians called for putting Khaddam on trial for betrayal. “Abdul-Halim Khaddam lied and betrayed his country,” Faisal Kaltoum, a lawmaker and member of the ruling Baath’s central committee, told al-Jazeera.
Kaltoum said criminals have no right to use the media to express personal opinions. “Adbul-Halim Khaddam is a cornerstone of corruption in Syria. He does not respect his country, he has no place in this country and he deserves to be rejected by his people,” said Kaltoum, accusing al-Arabiya of endorsing “special plans for the region,” in reference to American pressure on Syria.
Member of Parliament Umayma Faddoul said he turned to the Baath leadership with a request to try Khaddam. “I asked the Syrian leadership to try him,” he said. Other parliamentarians demanded a special committee be set up to investigate the attitude of Kaddam, once President Hafez Asaad’s closest confident.
“Khaddam spoke of Bashar Assad’s politeness yet he did not reciprocate with the same manner. A polite man does not use threats,” said George Jabbour, a member of parliament and former advisor to late President Hafez Assad.
Parliament votes for Khaddam trial
At the end of the session the parliament voted unanimously to demand that the government put Khaddam on trial.
"We call on the justice minister to try Abdel-Halim Khaddam for grand treason and to take the necessary measures," speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash said.
Syrian state television broadcast a message saying, “Khaddam spoke of corruption and poverty in Syria while in his luxury residence in Paris. He hurt and humiliated the Syrian people with harsh claims such as some Syrians look in rubbish bins for food.”
The state broadcaster also responded to Khaddam’s remarks on Syria’s intervention in Lebanon, saying the former Vice Premier was prevented form intervening in deciding Syrian policy towards Lebanon in 1998 for his “evil attitude towards the Lebanese people.”
The televised message also accused Khaddam of being a dishonest witness against Syria, saying his comments serve the politicization of a United Nations investigation of Hariri’s assassination. Khaddam told al-Arabiya the U.N. report is not political, contradicting Syrian claims to the contrary.
Menawhile, the leading Lebanese daily an-Nahar reported Saturday that the former head of Syria’s Military Intelligence in Lebanon Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazale called al-Arabiya asking to reply to Khaddam’s remarks yet he decided not to go on air at the last minute.
Syrian sources said Saturday that the interview is but an attempt to humiliate Syria.
Reuters contributed to this report
