DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian opposition figures who reject foreign intervention in Syria’s 18-month conflict called for the ouster of President Bashar Assad at a rare meeting Sunday in the nation’s capital.
The gathering was tolerated by the regime in an apparent attempt to lend credibility to its claims that it remains open to political reform despite its bloody crackdown on dissent.
A senior former Assad ally, meanwhile, said Iran is providing massive support for the embattled Syrian regime.
“Iranians are active in leading positions in the military,” former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected to the opposition last month, told the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “We’re not only talking about military aid but also logistical and economic support” by Iran.
This month, the top commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said the elite unit has high-level advisers in Syria. Iran is also thought to be sending weapons to Syria.
In recent weeks, Assad’s military has escalated airstrikes and shelling of civilian areas to put down an uprising that began in March 2011 with peaceful protests but has since devolved into a civil war. Activists say close to 30,000 people have been killed.
Sunday’s opposition conference was attended by diplomats from Iran, Russia and China, Assad’s main allies. It was likely to be viewed as a cosmetic gesture by Syrian rebels and their many backers in the international community.
The loose network of Syrian rebel groups and the political opposition outside Syria think Assad cannot be trusted to negotiate reform or a peaceful transfer of power, and call for foreign military intervention to break the stalemate in the conflict.
