More information has emerged, regarding a supposed US backed road-map for Syria. Louay Hussein (a former imprisoned member of the Syrian Communist Action Party), one of the main authors of the document, on Al-Arabiyya, states the document was not linked to any opposition project, nor does it represent the protesters. Instead, it was a personal initiative that proposes to the regime a possible time-tabled set of moves for a political solution to the current crisis. It was never intended to be discussed in the opposition meetings and was only passed on to Buthaina Sh’aban, to then be considered by the regime. Louay Hussein further denied meeting Syria’s vice-president (Farouk al-Shar’a). The US administration, on the other hand, has officially denied an adoption or sponsorship of this document.
Regardless, there is a confirmation that the US ambassador is in contact with both the regime and opposition figures (also see this), with Farouk al-Shar’a as a probabe linkage, in pushing for a political solution to the current crisis. The Obama administration has already opined on the reformist credentials of Bashar al-Assad and continues to refuse to call for his deparature. It has also officially praised initial opposition meetings in Damascus and has noted its support for this process (Farouk al-Shar’a is attempting to coordinate a series of consultation meetings between the opposition and the Syrian regime). Whether the US administration has sponsored a document is a red herring, as it laregely adopts a dialogue strategy between the regime and Syrian opposition. The objective is to utilise diplomatic means, aiming to consolidate Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power but with serious concessions offered. In other words, it seeks a weakening of his foreign policy power leverages but with an otherwise intact internal rule, though with some re-structuring of the state’s ruling apparatus. Again, as noted in a previous post, this is a preferred route and there remains contingency plans for the likely failure of this policy.
