FSA is winning territorial battles in Syria

Prominent Syrian National Coalition (SNC) member Haitham al-Maleh has praised Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for urging Iran to stop supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but claims Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should not have been invited to Cairo for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit last month. In an interview with Arabstoday, Maleh has also predicted that the Syrian conflict will come to an end very soon, because the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) has pushed the regime forces back and is winning the key territorial battles. Maleh, currently living in Cairo, believes that Arab countries are willing to support the SNC, but are yet to take decisive decision on how they can do so. "Qatar has opened the its embassy for the National Coalition, and backed us with $20 million, but our attempts to secure an Arab League seat are still in limbo," he says. The former judge feels that America is trying to stop Gulf States from supporting the Syrian rebels, due to pressure from Israel. "The former US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had put pressure on Gulf states to prevent the arming of troops, because Washington does not make any decision without the approval of Israel, and the Israelis want to keep Assad in power." Discussing the proposal of Moaz al-Khatib, Maleh says he disagrees with the Syrian opposition leader because the plans would allow Assad to leave Syria without trial. "Khatib's initiative was made individually by Khatib himself, without any consultation with the opposition coalition," he explains. Maleh thinks that any dialogue to resolve the Syrian conflict must be held with parties whose hands are "not contaminated with blood," and adds that negotiations should only take place outside Syria. The 82-year old has also criticised officials of the Egyptian Nasserist Party (ENP) for visiting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad last month. "The Syrian regime wanted to attract supporters in Egypt and the Nasserist [Party] leaders tried to inflame the situation in Egypt," he claims. Maleh says that Egyptian authorities should not rely on Iran to resolve the Syrian crisis, because Tehran is fully supportive of the ruling regime. He claims that Iran has "occupied" Syria, adding that the Iranian ambassador in Damascus, Mohammad Riza Shebani, is advising President Assad. Maleh confirms that the SNC is keen to form an interim government, to make it the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.