FINALLY WE KNOW WHAT THEY WANT.....

Muslim Brotherhood will come to save Syria from the actual Regime.... Thanks to God, after that, Syria will be a fundamentalist, islamic and radical country, thanks to Americans.... and after coupple of years they will come to bombing us because they will don't like how the Muslim Brotherhoods are.... the same history than Afghanistan, Irak.... and everybody watching tv eating their hamburguers enjoying.... meanwhile people die and lose all they had....

Muslim Brotherhood leader offers support to Syrian defector

The leader of Syria's opposition Muslim Brotherhood has indicated that his group might back a change of regime involving Abdel-Halim Khaddam, the rec­ently defected former vice-president now presenting himself as an alternative.

Ali Sadreddine Bayanouni, the exiled head of the Brotherhood, the most powerful opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, told the Financial Times that his movement was willing to work for political transition in Syria with former regime officials who are ready to commit themselves to democratic change.

"For us, getting rid of the dictatorial regime could come in many ways. During the transition it could happen through people within the regime," said Mr Bayanouni when asked whether he would back change led by Mr Khaddam. He added that a transition period would have to be followed by democratic elections.

Mr Khaddam, a pillar of the Syrian regime who resigned as vice-president five months ago, caused a political earthquake when he broke away from Damascus in December and launched a scathing attack on Mr Assad.

The UK-based Mr Bayanouni, the leader of the Sunni Islamist movement outlawed in Syria, said that although he was not convinced by Mr Khaddam's stated democratic credentials, he was willing to assume that "he had woken up and decided to defect because the regime is leading the country towards a catastrophe". Mr Khaddam, he added, still had to explain his change of heart and past role but that he could "contribute to change in Syria".

On December 30 Mr Khaddam appeared on the Saudi-backed al-Arabiya television station and supported the United Nations investigation into the killing in February of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. The inquiry has implicated Syrian officials.

Challenging repeated Syrian denials of involvement, Mr Khaddam said Mr Assad had threatened Mr Hariri months before the assassination. His comments focused attention on the president and were followed by a renewed UN request to interview Mr Assad.

In remarks published yesterday by Asharq al-Awsat, the Saudi newspaper, Mr Khaddam escalated his assault, saying that the Assad regime could not be reformed.

He said he was attempting to create the right atmosphere for Syrians to topple the regime. He acknowledged that Islamists had a large following in the country and should be included in any political transition.

Mr Khaddam, who is now in Paris, was one of the most powerful men in Syria under President Hafez al-Assad, who passed away in 2000, paving the way for his son Bashar to take over. Mr Khaddam was also the highest ranking Sunni Muslim in a regime dominated by the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Critical of the inheritance of power, he was marginalised by the young Mr Assad but stayed on as vice-president until last year.

The government in Damascus has lashed back at him in recent days, treating him as a traitor and ordering a freeze of his family's assets.

But Mr Khaddam's media campaign has added to the pressure on Damascus to co-operate with the UN inquiry. That his first statements were broadcast by the Dubai-based al-Arabiya, which is backed by Saudis, suggests that he had the green light from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia was infuriated by the killing of Mr Hariri - a close ally who had refused to bend to Damascus's will - and has been calling on Syria to comply with the UN inquiry.

Analysts say that in the short term Mr Khaddam's attacks would push senior Alawites to consolidate their power. But Mr Bayanouni said the former official's break with the regime could lead to other defections.

"I think Khaddam will encourage others. We hope that whether they are Alawite or Sunni, others should leave. The future of this regime is disastrous," he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood has long been repressed in Syria, where the government accuses it of involvement in violence. But its leaders say they are committed to non-violent opposition and free elections. The Brotherhood joined other secular opposition groups last year in issuing the Damascus Declaration, calling for a democratic alternative to the Assad regime.