house divided over syria

MI6-run Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Is Split in Two, and They Are Bickering

The Beirut-based left-wing news daily, Al-Akhbar, has a detailed report on the split between two parts of the MI6-run non-registered outfit, The Syrian Observatory Group for Human Rights (SOHR), based in London, dissipating misinformation on behalf of the groups against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. 


More than anything else, the row between the two rival groups laying claim over SOHR seems to reflect a wider political feud brewing between the two main Syrian opposition camps: the Syrian National Council (SNC) and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB), increasingly at odds with each other over the call for foreign intervention, the Al-Akhbar report said.


One group is led by Rami Abdulrahman, ostensibly SOHR's founder, who is linked to Rifaat Assad, exiled uncle of Syrian President Bashar Assad and a current dissident widely resented by pro- and anti-regime forces alike. 


Abdulrahman appeared last November on London-based Arabic satellite channel al-Hiwar showing what he said was his British passport and Syrian ID papers with his real name, Ossama Suleiman, to the cameras.



Abdulrahman's group shares its list of the dead privately with the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, but says it will not give it to the press. Amnesty International was set up by MI6, while Human Rights Watch is funded by Soros.


The other group is led by a London-based Syrian exile and medical doctor named Mousab Azzawi. Azzawi signed an Arabic version of the letter as a member of Amnesty International. 


In November, Azzawi appeared on CNN calling for international intervention in the style of the Libyan scenario, echoing Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 


Marking a clear divergence between the two groups, Abdulrahman's colleague and SOHR spokesperson Hivin Kako stresses, "We do not want a war...we do not want a Libyan scenario."


It is evident that Azzawi works hand-in-glove with Syrian National Council (SNC) head Burhan Ghalioun. 


Ghalioun takes his orders directly from Saudi Arabia. Burhan Ghalioun met with Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal in Cairo on Jan 22. The meeting focused on the recent Syrian developments and the Arab Monitoring Mission's report.