NELSON: NO QUESTION SYRIA'S ASSAD MUST LEAVE

May 29, 2012 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson, on an official congressional trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, said that leaders of Persian Gulf states believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost the moral authority to continue in office, and should voluntarily leave or possibly face a military intervention to force him from power. Nelson also said there is unanimous opposition to Iran developing nuclear weapons, and that the eventual winner of the presidential elections in Egypt will want to continue a relationship with the United States.
Nelson’s trip to the region was spurred by Egypt’s first free election in 5,000 years, and Nelson’s desire to gain a better perspective on contemporary Saudi-Iranian, -Syrian, and –Egyptian relations. Nelson spoke by phone from Saudi Arabia after meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s Major General Mohammed Al-Assar, and other government officials.
“There is no question he (Assad) has to leave,” Senator Nelson said. “I don’t think there is anybody looking at this situation as if he can stay. King Abdullah has been critical of the problems in Syria – raising questions about the moral authority of President Bashar al-Assad to continue to serve after having his troops fire on innocent people, most recently slaughtering 50 young Syrians… everyone is looking to the United States for leadership. The question is if we can establish a partnership, rather than have the United States take the only role in working for regime change in Syria. It appears pretty clear right now that the situation in Syria is not going to change, absent some sort of action regarding the Assad administration… The word we have gotten from Saudi officials here is that they want to be part of a group to solve this issue. The discussion is about there being some sort of unity in the gulf, in order to bring a resolution to the problem in Syria.” Nelson continued.
Asked if there are discussions about a military intervention into Syria, Nelson responded affirmatively.
“Yes there is, but everybody is looking for a resolution without military intervention - if at all possible,” Nelson said. “There is discussion about other countries talking to President Assad about leaving the country, and a regime change in a peaceful manner. Everyone’s hope is that pressure on the regime supporting the efforts of the opposition and knowing who the opponents are… might result in him leaving and avoiding the circumstances that occurred in Libya.”
Asked how long Assad has until military intervention, Nelson said he doesn’t think anyone knows the answer at this time.
“I know that every effort will be made to have him leave office voluntarily, but on the other hand, after talking to the Saudis, if that is not successful, military intervention is inevitable,” Nelson said. “But I think that would require a lot of planning and discussion among the parties. A group of interested gulf countries are already beginning to talk about that possibility, and it is very likely that the United States will be involved in that discussion.”
Officials from both Syria and Egypt communicated to Nelson consistent concerns of Iran developing nuclear armaments, as well as militant Muslim groups working through Iran to pose a threat to other Middle Eastern countries.
“The relationship between Syria – as a proxy of Iran - and Hezbollah working through/from Iran, through Syria into Lebanon, continuing to create a threat for Israel, a threat that is very real, and there is a matter of concern that it could involve nuclear activity on Iran’s part, and or retaliation against Iran from Israel,” Nelson said. “I think it’s unanimous in this region that Iran should not have nuclear weapons, or the capability of creating them… severing the relationship between Syria and Iran will go a long way in restoring some stability in this region and making it much more difficult for Iran to feel they have the power with their nuclear ambitions.”
Nelson was one of several American government officials in Egypt following the Egyptian presidential election, including former President Jimmy Carter and Congressman David Dreier (CA-26). The Egyptian election held on the 23rd and 24th of May, was conducted to narrow the initial field of candidates; Ahmed Shafik, and Mohamed Morsi, the top recipients of votes, will run head-to-head in the June 16th and 17th general election.
“(Egypt) just conducted what was obviously an appropriate and free election – as promised by the military. They were proud of the fact that it was conducted in such a peaceful and appropriate fashion… The last election they had of any significance was for forty years, involving Mubarak… Even though it is not clear who will ultimately be the president of Egypt – it does seem that whoever is president will want to continue to have an ongoing relationship with the United States,” said Nelson.