Syria: Inside the Opposition
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2013
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Syria's opposition movements comprise a diverse range of political and armed groups. But how do they differ in terms of their ideology, their modus operandi and in their vision for a post-conflict Syria?
Edward Stourton investigates the numerous alternatives to President Assad and assesses which groups are gaining or losing influence on the ground after more than two years of bloody fighting.
The programme will hear from those in charge of the National Coalition - the Istanbul based group officially recognised by the UK government but dismissed by some as "the opposition of the hotels".
Ahead of the United Nations Geneva II negotiations, expected in late November, Edward Stourton will examine why, in a country with an overwhelming Sunni Muslim majority, a leader from the small Alawi minority community has managed to hang on to power.
Contributions from: Monzer Akbik, Chief of Staff to the President of the National Coalition; Walid Saffour, former Muslim Brotherhood activist and Coalition Representative to the UK; Sheikh Mohammed Yaqoubi, Syrian Sunni scholar; Raphael Lefevre, author of Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria; Aron Lund, Middle East analyst; Faisal Irshaid, BBC Monitoring.
Producer: Hannah Barnes.
Transcript
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| 0:38.7 | In this week's program, Edward Stirtan explores who's who in the Syrian opposition and asks what the country might |
| 0:45.1 | look like if they succeed in defeating Bishar al-Assad. |
| 0:50.0 | Syria has been gripped by civil strife for more than two and a half years now. |
| 0:54.0 | There's no sign of that ending and no sign of anyone winning either. |
| 0:58.0 | How is it that an unpopular leader from a small minority Shiite sect has managed to hang on for so long in a country |
| 1:05.2 | where the overwhelming majority of the population is Sunni Muslim. The answer of course |
| 1:10.4 | lies partly with al-Assad's superior military equipment and the support of |
| 1:14.4 | his powerful foreign allies. But, and it's an uncomfortable truth, part of the |
| 1:20.1 | responsibility lies with the opposition themselves. Their effectiveness has been ruinously |
| 1:25.1 | compromised by the deep divisions between them. The opposition was divided from the start and the |
| 1:30.9 | asset regime did its best to keep it divided and in this divided |
| 1:34.8 | environment I think groups like al-Qaeda they thrive. |
| 1:38.3 | As even those who spend their time studying all this will concede it's a bewilderingly complex picture. |
| 1:43.2 | Aaron Lund is a specialist in the field. He's written reports on the Syrian |
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