Assad's uncle calls for him to step down

In an interview with French television, Rifaat Al Assad said months of civil unrest had effectively deprived Syria of leadership, and it now risked being torn apart by armed militias and could face a worse upheaval than neighbouring Lebanon's civil war in the 1970s and 80s.

 

Out of a sense of patriotism, Bashar Al Assad should speed up his departure, he said, but his presence in Syria was not untenable as blood had been shed on both sides, among supporters and opponents of the government.

 

"He has to go, but without leaving the country. He isn't responsible, it's a historical accumulation of many things, and I'd like him to convince himself to step down," Rifaat Al Assad told LCI television.

 

Rifaat Al Assad is a former military commander, widely held responsible for crushing an uprising in 1982 against then president Hafez Al Assad, Bashar's father, in which many thousands were killed.

 

Rifaat turned against the government in the 1980s and now lives in exile. Earlier this year, his son and Bashar's cousin Ribal, who lives in exile in London, urged the Syrian leader to attempt a rapprochement with opponents to avoid civil war and an outbreak of regional conflict.

 

On Thursday, Ribal told BBC radio the government just wanted to cling to power. "They don't want any dialogue, they are ready to do whatever," he said.

 

He called for the opposition to be united, to include all the country's different ethnic groups, sects and religions, as part of a process towards a peaceful transition. This could allow his cousin to "get out, if somebody could give him refuge", he said.

 

"I have been talking to people in the military and in the military secret service lately in Syria who also are tired and are against what is happening," he said. "They are tired of the violence that's being used against people."