Syrian Regime Cancels Opposition Conference in Damascus

Traffic in Damascus (AFP)
Traffic in Damascus (AFP)
TT
20

Syrian Regime Cancels Opposition Conference in Damascus

Traffic in Damascus (AFP)
Traffic in Damascus (AFP)

The Syrian regime canceled the founding conference of the opposition National Democratic Front after security services stormed into the venue, banning anyone from entering.

Preparatory committee sources said that security agents contacted the Secretary-General of the Arab Democratic Socialist Union Party, Ahmed al-Asrawi, on Friday and informed him that the founding conference is canceled, unless they obtained the necessary green light from the competent authorities, after submitting a request to the Minister of Interior.

The General Coordinator of the National Coordination Committee, Hassan Abdulazim, announced the conference was postponed because the authorities also sent the state security agents and police forces to the site and banned the media from covering the developments.

The media office of the conference’s preparatory committee announced that the Syrian regime canceled the founding conference, which was set to be held on Saturday morning in Damascus.

In its statement, the committee asserted it will continue to hold meetings to take the appropriate decision regarding the formation of the National Democratic Front.

The committee also considered the regime’s ban of its peaceful civil action a "repressive criminal act" in violation of human rights and international law.

It held the regime, the states supporting it, and influential parties responsible for the security and safety of the comrades and colleagues, calling for “diplomatic, international, and UN intervention” to ensure their security.

The statement explained that security agents contacted the participants on Friday night, and warned them that the security authorities will stop the conference from taking place under the pretext that it does not have a license from the so-called “party affairs committee.”

The preparatory committee also called on all Syrians to boycott the presidential elections in June, describing them as illegal.

Earlier, Abdulazim called for boycotting the presidential election, scheduled for the summer, saying it was “illegal” and a “farce.”

Asharq Al-Awsat published a draft statement of the conference, which called for the “restructuring of the security agencies and building of a national army” and the “withdrawal of all non-Syrian armies and militias”.

The document presented a set of proposals including a radical regime change and removal of all foreign forces and militias from Syria.

It also called for a political solution based on the international legitimacy - Geneva 1 and UN Resolution 2254 - to form a transitional governing body with full executive powers that allows for the establishment of a new constitution and holds fair elections under UN supervision, which results in a civil state.

The National Coordination body that called for the conference, includes the National Democratic Rally, most notably the Democratic Arab Socialist Union.

It had announced, through foreign media, its intention to hold a founding conference, the first of its kind in Damascus in nine years, to launch a new political alliance called the National Democratic Front.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
TT
20

RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.