BEIRUT – Syrian Vice President Faruq Al-Sharaa said in comments published Monday that he favors a negotiated solution to the Syrian conflict rather than the president's strategy of crushing the rebellion militarily. Sharaa, in an interview conducted last week at his Damascus office but published Monday by the pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, said that such policy disagreements have now reached the highest levels of power. “Those who have the chance to meet the president will hear from his mouth that this promises to be a prolonged conflict, essentially a grand conspiracy hatched by several parties,” Sharaa said. “He (President Bashar Al-Assad) does not hide his desire to press on militarily until the final victory (and he believes that) after this, political dialogue will actually still be possible.” But Sharaa, the most prominent Sunni Muslim official in the Alawite minority dominated regime of Assad, said he is in favor of a compromise. “No opposition can end the battle militarily, just as the security forces and army cannot achieve a decisive conclusion,” he said, calling for a “historic settlement” between the warring parties and backed by key regional countries and UN Security Council member states. Sharaa emphasised that “the various opposition forces – whether armed or civilian, or linked to foreign powers – cannot claim they are the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people.” On the other hand, “the current governing power ... cannot alone create changes without new partners,” added the veteran official, who served for 22 years as Syria's foreign minister. “Assad has all the powers in the country ... but there are different opinions and views in the Syrian leadership. However, it is not at the point where we can talk about different political currents or deep divisions,” he revealed. This is the first time that a senior Syrian leader has expressed opinions at odds with the head of the state. In an autocratic country like Syria, an official must have substantial backing from the regime to express himself so candidly. In October, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that Sharaa would be a suitable pick to lead a transition government in Syria, calling him “a man of reason” who could stop the civil war in the country. Sharaa, 74, has served the regime for decades, both under Assad and under his father and predecessor Hafez Al-Assad, but has been seen in public only a few times since the uprising erupted in March last year. Torn between his loyalty to the regime and his birthplace in the southern province of Daraa where protesters first took to the streets, he proposed to act as a mediator in the early days of the revolt. “Every day that passes, we are moving further away from a military or political solution. We must position ourselves to defend Syria's existence – we are not in a battle for an individual or a regime,” Sharaa said. But he added that some Syrian leaders claim to work as per guidelines. “When they make decisions they point to the portrait on the wall, which means that the directive is indisputable,” he said, referring to the ubiquitous pictures of Assad hanging in all government offices. – Agencies
