Syria's Muslim Brotherhood Says It Will Not Monopolize Power
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syria's Muslim Brotherhood will share power and respect democracy if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, its leader said on Sunday.
"The regime is trying to show that the Muslim brotherhood are trying to control Syria alone," Mohammad Riad al-Shaqfa told a news conference in Istanbul in remarks translated into English.
"We want a democratic Syria and we do not want to control the country alone," he said, ahead of the international conference of "Friends of Syria," scheduled in Istanbul for April 1.
Meetings of various factions of Syrian opposition will take place this week in Istanbul, and "90 percent of the opposition parties will be united by April 1, under the umbrella of Syrian National Council", which already includes majority of opposition parties, said the Islamist leader.
The movement's number two, Farouk Monir Khalid, described as "good news" a decision by the United States to assist Syrian rebels with "non-lethal" aid.
"It is a good step to help" the rebels, he told Agence France Presse.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed Sunday on the need to send "non-lethal" aid to Syrian rebels, including communications equipment, said U.S. deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.
"We expect to have funds to help the SNC, and more decisions to stop the killings in Syria," to emerge from the next "Friends of Syria" meeting, Khalid said.
"We assure that we will accept the result of free elections. We assure that the rights of all Syrians will be guaranteed, of all groups and beliefs."
When asked about the fate of the Kurdish minority in Syria, he said that the Muslim Brotherhood "are looking for a non-centralized administration in Syria."
Monitors say at least 9,100 people have been killed in Syria since anti-regime protests broke out last year.
26 March 2012, 08:32
12
Syrian Christians and Druze should pop out of their hiding place and begin negotiation the Assad succession. They should book their place in the upcoming Governement from now on.
26 March 2012, 08:36
12
Where are the M8 idiots who have been scaring us about the Brotherhood?
26 March 2012, 15:02
00
And what happened to Christians in Egypt when the Brotherhood won there? And what is scary about Libya for Christians? M8 - aka Aoun - was scaring Christians that the Brotherhood is going to rule in Kiserwan (I mean I know he's crazy but you guys are even crazier for believing him) - but like you said, talk is cheap :)
26 March 2012, 15:05
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With regards to the picture, those are not the brotherhood protesting, they're protesting against AlNahda (which is the brotherhood branch in Tunisia) please get your facts straight before commenting...ya tween inta...
26 March 2012, 12:30
10
Let them start by first changing their LOGO and eliminating the 2 Swards. Muslim Brotherhood will always be Muslim Brotherhood. They will always make trouble as long as they mix Religion with Politics. I never trust nor am I fond of Religious Parties. They are full of corruption. Their political aim is an Authoritative Regime ruled by outdated Bedouin Sharia Laws. Who are we kidding here; never trust Religious Groups, for when you give power, they will certainly abuse it in the name of Allah. As for the Asad Regime, may it go to Hell as well. Nothing good comes out of Arabs and Muslims as long as they are stuck in their past and confronting Modernity.
26 March 2012, 17:59
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Are you a professor of arab and muslim behaviour and history?
Nobody is stuck in the past except of you generalizing and using stereotypes to explain contemporary politics.
The biggest supporter now of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is according to many an islamist, extremist and even terrorist group ( not expressing my view but using an example) are a Christian group supported by a big majority of christians ( tayyar).
So who should come out of the "past and stop confronting modernity".
26 March 2012, 16:27
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How does a political party calling itself the "Moslem Brotherhood" stand for democratic principles? How is that possible? The name implies that those included in the religious affiliation are brothers, and those who are not so religiously affiliated are ... what? Cousins? Strangers or worse?
Democracy is wed to the rule of law and under the rule of law, everyone in the country, regardless of race, religion, creed, or economic station in life has the same basic human rights as everyone else by virtue of being an individual human being and the government is there to guarantee and to protect those rights.
A "Syrian Brotherhood? Maybe, but what about the females in Syria? To be democratic means to unhook political rights from religious affiliation and vice versa.
