By Paula Astatih

Asharq Al-Awsat, Beirut, July 1, 2012 – Syrian National Council [SNC] President Abdel Basset Sayda stressed that there is no effective solution to the Syrian crisis that does not include the departure of Bashar al-Assad and those around him, adding that any efforts to establish a national unity government must be based on realistic mechanisms.
Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat about the Geneva summit, the SNC chief said “it is true that we were not invited to attend, as the participants were representing states, however we – via our friends – were part of the atmosphere of this summit, and we believe that things are not going in the desired direction because there are initiatives and proposals attempting to void the plan put forward by international envoy Kofi Annan of its content” adding “we are awaiting the outcome and result of this summit.”
Sayda confirmed that he welcomed any international summit seeking to find a solution to the situation in Syria; however he asserted that this should reflect a serious desire to resolve the situation, away from initiatives that grant the al-Assad regime successive deadlines to suppress the Syrian people.
He added “we are very aware that what is required is a political solution…however at the same time it is not acceptable to ignore all the sacrifices of the Syrian people who have been killed, injured and arrested in order to topple the regime.”
For his part, Syrian dissident Haitham al-Maleh claimed that the proposal that Annan issued, as well as the Geneva Summit yesterday, will both fail, because the least that the Syrian people are demanding today is the departure of Bashar al-Assad and his regime, as well as the leaders of the security services. He stressed that the entire world is incapable of dictating any terms to the Syrian people who have sacrificed so much.
Al-Maleh also told Asharq Al-Awsat that “what Annan and the Geneva summit put forward are things that not even the Syrian opposition abroad – which represents the political umbrella of the Syrian revolution – can get excited by. The first and last word, in this regard, belongs to the revolutionaries who will not negotiate about the possibility of establishing a national unity government before the departure of al-Assad.”
He stressed that any talk about the future government, its nature or shape or form, cannot take place before the ouster of the al-Assad regime.
For its part, Syria’s opposition Local Coordination Committees [LCC] also denounced the Geneva summit, saying the outcome showed once again the international community’s failure to adopt a common position on the Syrian crisis.
The LCC described the transition accord as “just one version, different in form only, of the demands of Russian leaders allied to the al-Assad regime and who cover it militarily and politically in the face of international pressure.”
“The new agreement contains obscure turns of phrase that give the al-Assad regime’s gangs another chance to play for time in suppressing the population revolution to silence it through violence and massacres.”
Inside Syria, the Geneva summit was also met with criticism from Syrian political activists; one Syrian revolutionary website uploaded a video of a young girl, aged 7, alongside the caption: A child between life and death whilst the world divides the cake in Geneva.
Syrian political activists also announced their comprehensive rejection of the international community, following such conferences and summits, calling for the Syrian opposition to unite and unify its ranks.
One Syrian political activist, writing on his personal blog, wrote “we are the demonstrators, and our revolution is peaceful and unified, even in terms of our slogans… it is the Bashar al-Assad regime that is divided and fragmented, particularly as the Syrian army has become two armies: a Free Syrian Army that defends us, and an army who are the slaves of al-Assad that kills us.”
For his part, a Syrian political activist in Homs who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat under the assumed name “Ahmed” for fear of reprisals called on the international community to be silent, adding “the Syrian opposition calls the divided international community to unite! We are united and committed to toppling Bashar al-Assad’s gang. We call on the international community to be silent and not interfere in our affairs, in the same manner as they have since the beginning of the revolution. Today, they have begun to talk as if we will allow them to harvest the fruits of our revolution; however we confirm that they are mistaken, for the Syrian people will not topple one occupier, only for him to be replaced by another.”