The head of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, said that the Syrian opposition is "leading a war on behalf of all Arabs, against the regime of Bashar Assad, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the extremist groups from Iraq and Lebanon".
Jarba said some Arab countries "hesitant in supporting the Syrian Revolution, have a clear sectarian and political connection with Iran".
Jarba also said he hoped that "disagreements between Qatar and the Gulf countries will not affect the support for the Syrian revolution."
Jarba confirmed in an interview with al-Hayat that he will address Arab leaders at the 25th summit to be held Tuesday in Kuwait, and that he will focus in his speech on the concerns and aspirations of the Syrian people three years after the crisis.
"We will tell the leaders what is happening on the Syrian ground, and the implications of the failure of Geneva II, as well as the future of the revolution," he said.
"Our invitation to the summit came from the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, head of the Arab summit at present, and from the Arab Ministerial Council which held a meeting recently in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. We will represent the Syrian people in this summit, our word and our concerns would be comprehensive," Jarba added.
Regarding the continued Arab controversy in granting Syria's seat at the Arab League to the Coalition, Jarba said: "Of course there is a disagreement on that, if there was no disagreement in views, we would have got the seat, though there is a previous Arab decision made at the Doha summit to give the seat to the opposition. This is a subject that must remain outside the scope of disagreements, in the end the seat will be the Coalition's."
Jarba criticized the position of some Arab states on the crisis: "The fact is that some of the positions of the Arab countries still tend to support the Syrian regime against the opposition, and these things have to do with sectarianism and links to Iran. Unfortunately, this situation is dangerous, as the Syrian crisis is foremost humanitarian. We hope the countries will consider the human and Arab dimension, away from sectarianism."
Jarba stressed that the Syrian opposition is leading a war on behalf of "Arabs, against Iran and extremist battalions from Iraq and Lebanon."
"When the Syrian people demonstrated against Bashar Assad three years ago, they sought freedom against injustice and tyranny. This was the title of the Syrian revolution, but when Iran immorally interfered in the Syrian issue, and began to intensify the sectarianism with the participation of soldiers of the Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah and Lebanese and Iraqi extremist battalions, the battle became one of Arabs, after having been essentially a battle against the regime of the tyrant, Bashar Assad," Jarba said.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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