Syria’s new ‘reconciliation minister’ offers plan to stymie carnage
By Frederik Pleitgen and Holly Yan CNN
June 18, 2013 — Updated 0745 GMT (1545 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Syria’s president appoints Ali Haidar as the new national reconciliation minister
- Haidar says all parts of the government should be up for negotiation
- But he says there can’t be any preconditions to talks
- Haidar challenges claims that the regime used chemical weapons on rebels
Damascus, Syria (CNN) — Ali Haidar has a job title that may sound more like a pipe dream than an official post.
But Syria’s new minister for national reconciliation said he believes the country can still unite for a political solution — even after two years of incessant bloodshed and more than 92,000 deaths.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen, Haidar said all parts of the Syrian government should be up for negotiation.
“The best compromise that we can achieve today is that the regime and we, as a part of the homeland peaceful opposition, agree to the negotiating table without any preconditions, without excluding anybody from the opposition — which means everything is subject to discussion,” Haidar said.
Columnist: Diplomacy won’t work in Syria
Obama, Putin disagree on Syrian solution
UK, Russia differ over Syria
On front line with al-Assad fighters
And that includes the presidency.
“The office of the president is a matter related to the whole political structure of the country … and we believe the shape and structure should be discussed among Syrians and should be decided by the Syrians in a referendum because only the Syrian people can decide what happens.”
But Haidar, who was appointed by President Bashar al-Assad, emphasized there can’t be any preconditions to political talks between the opposition and government.
Preconditions have been a major sticking point, as members of the opposition have said they won’t negotiate with the regime unless al-Assad steps down from four decades of family rule. Similarly, the government has said it won’t deal with “terrorists” — a term often used to describe rebels.
So the fighting on the ground rages on, killing about 5,000 people a month, according to the United Nations. Thousands of children have died in the conflict.
“The military problems on the ground only deal with the problem of violence. It does not resolve the political crisis,” Haidar said. He said the only solution is a political one, not a military one.
Haidar’s comments came days after the United States announced it will start arming Syrian rebels, who have begged the world for more weapons to fight al-Assad’s better equipped military. The Obama administration said Syria’s government had crossed a “red line” by using chemical weapons — including sarin gas — against the opposition.
But Haidar challenged assertions by the United States, Britain and France that the regime used chemical weapons.
“The talk about chemical weapons is only for political reasons,” Haidar said. “So far, no one has proved anything about who used them and where they were used, and who was behind using the chemical weapons.”
But with a precondition of having no preconditions for a political dialogue, it’s unclear if or when “national reconciliation” will take place.
CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen reported from Damascus; Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta.
Part of complete coverage on
Syrian crisis
For ongoing Syria coverage, we have an interactive that details the regional rivalries that are helping shape the conflict.
May 27, 2013 — Updated 1541 GMT (2341 HKT)
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez talks to CNN’s John Defterios on the likelihood of the U.S. arming Syrian rebel forces.
May 27, 2013 — Updated 2308 GMT (0708 HKT)
Mouaz Moustafa, who helped plan McCain’s trip to Syria, discusses details of the trip with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
May 16, 2013 — Updated 1737 GMT (0137 HKT)
The horrifying video of a Syrian rebel leader apparently eating the heart of a dead government soldier caused a storm of disgust on social media.
May 10, 2013 — Updated 0944 GMT (1744 HKT)
The conflict in Syria entered a new phase — one that threatens to embroil its neighbors in a chaotic way.
May 21, 2013 — Updated 1129 GMT (1929 HKT)
Exiled Syrian cartoonist, whose hands were broken in an attempt to end his craft, says pens have the power to topple dictators.
May 27, 2013 — Updated 2227 GMT (0627 HKT)
CNN’s Becky Anderson spoke to Khalid Saleh, director of the Syrian Coalition Media Office, about the ongoing crisis.
May 9, 2013 — Updated 0951 GMT (1751 HKT)
Ramiz Rafizadeh was driving past Syria’s famous Ummayad Mosque in December when another vehicle abruptly cut him off.
May 24, 2013 — Updated 2247 GMT (0647 HKT)
Assad isn’t winning the conflict in Syria, but neither is the opposition, Syria expert Fawaz Gerges tells Fareed Zakaria.
May 20, 2013 — Updated 1004 GMT (1804 HKT)
CNN’s Nic Robertson reports on the alarming increase in atrocities in the Syrian conflict.
May 20, 2013 — Updated 1143 GMT (1943 HKT)
War and disease threaten a 4-year-old’s life. She survives both with the help of doctors in an enemy state. Sara Sidner reports.
May 30, 2013 — Updated 1140 GMT (1940 HKT)
The Arab Spring toppled regimes in power for decades within only months of each other.
May 14, 2013 — Updated 1027 GMT (1827 HKT)
Turkey’s loss of at least 47 people in the car bombings in Reyhanli illustrates that Turkey isn’t immune to the violence next door.
May 17, 2013 — Updated 1700 GMT (0100 HKT)
Turkey is increasingly wary as violence rages next door. CNN’s Nic Robertson reports.
A devout man prays. A fighter weeps over a slain comrade. These are a few faces of the Syrian conflict captured by photographer LeeHarper.
March 7, 2013 — Updated 2324 GMT (0724 HKT)
The role of women in Syrian uprising is little reported, but many have played a key part as activists and medics since the bloodshed began.
Are you in Syria? Share your stories, videos and photos with the world on CNN iReport, but please stay safe.
Visit site:
Pedro had put Spain ahead in the 20th minute when his shot took a wicked deflection off Uruguay captain Diego Lugano.
Luis Suarez, out of shot, gave Uruguay a late consolation in Recife when he curled a free-kick past Spain’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring Italy’s winner in the Group A match against Mexico, but was booked for taking his shirt off. 
The AC Milan striker fired past Jose Corona in the second half at Rio’s Maracana Stadium.
Mexico striker Javier Hernandez had leveled the score in the 37th minute from the penalty spot. 
Andrea Pirlo celebrated his 100th appearance for Italy when he scored the opening goal from a free-kick.
Roger Tambellini of the United States hits his second shot from a bunker on the first hole on June 13.
Bill Haas of the United States ponders a putt on the 10th hole on June 13.
Ryan Yip of Canada hits his second shot out of a bunker on the 10th hole on June 13.
On the fourth hole, Aaron Baddeley of Australia tees off on June 13.
Lucas Glover of the United States tees off on the 11th hole on June 13.
The gallery takes in the U.S. Open from the 17th hole at Merion Golf Club on June 13.
Steve Stricker of the United States tees off on the 13th hole on June 13.
Rain begins to fall and play is suspended on June 13.
A man looks out over the 18th hole after play was suspended during a storm on June 13.
People traverse the 18th fairway during a weather delay on June 13.
Jason Day of Australia, Rickie Fowler of the United States and Matteo Manassero of Italy play on the 17th green on June 13.
Scott Stallings of the U.S. shoots from a bunker on the 15th hole on June 13.
On the 17th hole, Padraig Harrington of Ireland makes his second shot on June 13.
Cheng-Tsung Pan of Taiwan tees off on the 11th hole during on June 13.
Dustin Johnson of the U.S. tees off on the 18th hole on June 13.
Phil Mickelson of the U.S. watches his shot from the tee of the second hole on June 13.
JUNE 11, GAZA CITY, GAZA: Palestinian boys take a break during a summer physical training camp run by Hamas in Gaza City. Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement that operates in the Palestinian territories, sponsors 
June 10 – NEW YORK, U.S.: A boy takes part in the Alliance of American Jews protest against the Israeli Draft on June 9, 2013. Thousands gathered in Federal Plaza to demonstrate against a proposed law which would require
JUNE 7 – MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Fishermen cast their nets on the shallow end of polluted Manila Bay. This Filipino community is considered to be amongst the poorest in the country. With Manila’s fishing exploited by commercial fishers, the fisher folk are struggling to earn a living from their trade. 
JUNE 6 – KASHMIR, INDIA: Muslim villagers watch the funeral of Altaf Baba, the divisional commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (The Army of Muhammad), a Kashmir-based Islamic militant group, at Algar-Kandi in Pulwama district, south of Srinagar, on June 6, 2013. Altaf Baba was killed in a gunfight on June 5.
JUNE 5 – HONG KONG – People hold a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary of the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Pro-democracy groups around the world say the 
JUNE 4 – ZEITZ, GERMANY: Firefighters evacuate local residents from their flooded homes in Zeitz, Germany. Heavy rains are pounding southern and eastern Germany, Austria and western Czech Republic, causing heavy flooding. 11 people have died across the region so far, tens of thousands have been forced to leave their homes.
JUNE 3 – ISTANBUL, TURKEY: Tear gas surrounds a flag waving protestor on June 1, 2013. What began as a small sit-in over the Turkish government’s plan to demolish a park in central Istanbul in favor of a shopping arcade has swelled to become the biggest 
MAY 31- PARO, BHUTAN: Bhutanese women stand in line outside a polling station on May 31, 2013. Bhutan begins its second ever parliamentary election on Friday, after polling officials trekked for up to seven days to reach voters in the most remote corners of the Himalayan kingdom. 
MAY 30 – MONTPELLIER, FRANCE: Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau kiss in front of a crowd of supporters after their wedding, 
MAY 29 – BAZARAK, AFGHANISTAN: Defense personnel inspect the scene of a 
MAY 28 – ARLINGTON, U.S.: 
MAY 27 – PARIS, FRANCE: An estimated 150,000 
MAY 24 – LONDON, ENGLAND: On May 23, 2013, a police officer stands in a hail storm close to a crime scene where a 
MAY 23 – NEW DELHI, INDIA: A boy minds his family’s containers as people fill theirs with water. High temperatures are causing 
MAY 22 – VALPARAISO, CHILE: Demonstrators are dispersed by police water cannons during clashes in Valparaiso. Students in Chile have been demanding a fairer education system which would allow those from poorer backgrounds access to the best schools.
MAY 21 – MOORE, OKLAHOMA : Debris covers the ground after a powerful 
MAY 20 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Young South Koreans participate in a traditional Confucian coming-of-age ceremony in Seoul. The ceremony celebrates young people who have turned, or are going to turn, 20 this year and is meant to increase their awareness about the responsibilities of adulthood.
MAY 17 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Name cards with wishes of Buddhist followers are attached to lotus lanterns during a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of Buddha at Jogye temple. Buddhism is one of South Korea’s largest and most active religions with millions of followers. Although the exact date is unknown, Buddha’s official birthday is celebrated according to the lunisolar calendar, on the eighth day of the fourth month.
MAY 15 – NEW YORK, U.S.: The new “Rain Room” installation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City creates a field of falling water that stops in the area where people walk through, allowing them to remain dry. The piece releases a 260-gallon of water per minute.
MAY 14 – POPOCATEPETL, MEXICO: Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano has been rumbling with explosions and expulsions of ash and gas, prompting authorities to bar people from getting close to a crater that is within sight of Mexico City and many of its 19 million residents.
MAY 13 – WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron meet in the White House to foster the 
MAY 11 – CAIRO, EGYPT: A supporter of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak holds his portrait outside the Egyptian police academy in Cairo, on the first day of the retrial on May 11, 2013. Mubarak is appealing against his conviction for the murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters during the 2011 uprising.
MAY 10 – LAHORE, PAKISTAN: Supporters of former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif stand on a wall overlooking the field where he held the closing rally of his campaign on May 9, 2013. 86 million voters are due to go to the polls on May 11; the election will be the first civilian-to-civilian transition of power in the country’s 66-year history.
MAY 09 – MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russian soldiers march in Red Square during a Victory Day parade. Fighter jets scream overhead and heavy tanks rumble over cobblestones as Russia flexes its military muscle on the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
MAY 08 – LONDON, ENGLAND: Queen Elizabeth II arrives to the State Opening of Parliament in London. The monarch will mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation later this year and despite being 87 years of age, she’s shown no inclination to step down.
MAY 07 – NEW DELHI, INDIA: Om Dubey, 20, shows off his moves as elderly yoga practitioners sit in the courtyard of a mosque. India’s under-30s, comprising 60% of its 1.2 billion population, represent what experts call the “demographic dividend” of young workers that can help power the economy.
MAY 06 – KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor cut a cake to celebrate the 
MAY 03 – SAVAR, BANGLADESH: A lady believes her missing relative may be trapped in the rubble of an eight-storey garment factory collapse in Savar on April 24. The rising death toll has surpassed 500 and the country’s PM says Western retailers are partly to blame. 
MAY 02 – KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan woman takes part in a pro-democracy demonstration condemning the victory of former mujahideen groups that led to the start of Afghanistan’s 1992-1996 civil war. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the conflict.
Military analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers in 1971. The top-secret documents revealed that senior American leaders, including three presidents, knew the Vietnam War was an unwinnable, tragic quagmire. Further, they showed that the government had lied to Congress and the public about the progress of the war. Ellsberg surrendered to authorities and was charged as a spy. The court eventually learned that he was illegally wiretapped by the government and that President Nixon had ordered a break-in at the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist in attempts to discredit him. All charges against the whistle-blower were dropped. Since then he has lived a relatively quiet life as a respected author and lecturer.
The Tuskegee syphilis experiment is often cited as the most famous example of unethical medical research. In 1932, the U.S. Public Health Service began studying untreated syphilis in black men who thought they were getting free health care. None of the patients was told of their affliction, and they weren’t sufficiently treated. Peter Buxtun, who worked for the Public Health Service, relayed information about the experiment to a reporter in 1972, which halted the 40-year-long study. His testimony at congressional hearings led to an overhaul of the Health, Education and Welfare rules concerning work with human subjects. A class-action lawsuit was settled out-of-court for $10 million, with the U.S. government promising free medical care to surviving participants and their families. Here, Herman Shaw, one of the test subjects, appears with President Bill Clinton in 1997 during a ceremony apologizing to survivors and families of victims of the study.
In 2005, retired deputy FBI director Mark Felt revealed himself to be the whistle-blower “Deep Throat” in the Watergate scandal. He anonymously assisted Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward with many of their stories about the Nixon administration’s cover-up after the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The stories sparked a congressional investigation that eventually led to President Nixon’s resignation in 1974. The Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. Felt was convicted on unrelated conspiracy charges in 1980 and eventually pardoned by President Ronald Reagan before slipping into obscurity for the next quarter-century. He died in 2008 at age 95.
Mordechai Vanunu, who worked as a technician at Israel’s nuclear research facility, leaked information to a British newspaper and led nuclear arms analysts to conclude that Israel possessed a stockpile of nuclear weapons. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its weapons program. An Israeli court convicted Vanunu in 1986 after Israeli intelligence agents captured him in Italy. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Since his release in 2004, he has been arrested on a number of occasions for violating terms of his parole.
Mehdi Hashemi, an officer of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, opposed Iranian relations with the United States and acted to undermine an arms for hostages deal between the countries, even though senior Iranian officials supported it and carried it out. A secret and rogue operation carried out by an American military officer used the proceeds from weapons sales to Iran to fund the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua and attempted to secure the release of U.S. hostages held by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hashemi leaked evidence of the deal to a Lebanese newspaper in 1986. President Ronald Reagan’s closest aides maintain he did not fully know, and only reluctantly came to accept, the circumstances of what came to be known as the Iran-Contra affair. Here, Reagan addresses the media during a press conference at the White House in 1987.
Tobacco industry executive Jeffrey Wigand issued a memo to his company in 1992 about his concerns regarding tobacco additives. He was fired in March 1993 and subsequently contacted by “60 Minutes” and persuaded to tell his story on CBS. He claimed that Brown & Williamson knowingly used additives that were carcinogenic and addictive and spent millions covering it up. He also testified in a landmark case in Mississippi that resulted in a $246 billion settlement from the tobacco industry. Wigand has received public recognition for his actions and continues to crusade against Big Tobacco. He was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 1999 film “The Insider.”
For 10 years, Frederic Whitehurst complained mostly in vain about practices at the FBI’s world-renowned crime lab, where he worked. His efforts eventually led to a 1997 investigation that found lab agents produced inaccurate and scientifically flawed testimony in major cases, including the Oklahoma City and World Trade Center bombings. The Justice Department recommended major reforms but also criticized Whitehurst for “overstated and incendiary” allegations. He also faced disciplinary action for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into how some of his allegations were leaked to a magazine. After a yearlong paid suspension he left the bureau in 1998 with a settlement worth more than $1.16 million.
FBI whistle-blower Coleen Rowley accused the bureau of hindering efforts to investigate a suspected terrorist that could have disrupted plans for the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. In 2002 she fired off a 13-page letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller and flew to Washington to hand-deliver copies to two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and meet with committee staffers. The letter accused the bureau of deliberately undermining requests to look into Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the United States of playing a role in the attacks. She testified in front of Congress and the 9/11 Commission about the FBI’s mishandling of information. Rowley was selected as one of Time magazine’s People of the Year in 2002, along with whistle-blowers Sherron Watkins of Enron and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom.
Sherron Watkins, a former vice president at Enron, sent an anonymous letter to founder Kenneth Lay in 2001 warning him the company had accounting irregularities. The memo eventually reached the public and she later testified before Congress about her concerns and the company’s wrongdoings. More than 4,000 Enron employees lost their jobs, and many also lost their life savings, when the energy giant declared bankruptcy in 2001. Investors lost billions of dollars. An investigation in 2002 found that Enron executives reaped millions of dollars from off-the-books partnerships while violating basic rules of accounting and ethics. Many were sentenced to prison for their roles in the Enron scandal.
Cynthia Cooper and her team of auditors uncovered massive fraud at WorldCom in 2002. They found that the long-distance telephone provider had used $3.8 billion in questionable accounting entries to inflate earnings over the past five quarters. By the end of 2003, the total fraud was estimated to be $11 billion. The company filed for bankruptcy protection and five executives ended up in prison. Cooper started her own consulting firm and told her story in the book “Extraordinary Circumstances: Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower.” WorldCom President and CEO Bernard Ebbers, right, answers questions from the media during a press conference in 1999.
In 2003, federal air marshal Robert MacLean anonymously tipped off an MSNBC reporter that because of budget concerns, the TSA was temporarily suspending missions that would require marshals to stay in hotels just days after they were briefed about a new “potential plot” to hijack U.S. airliners. The news caused an immediate uproar on Capitol Hill and the TSA retreated, withdrawing the scheduling cuts before they went into effect. MacLean was later investigated and fired for the unauthorized disclosure of “sensitive security information.”
Joe Darby is the whistle-blower behind the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq. He says he asked Army Reserve Spc. Charles Graner Jr. for photos from their travels so he could share them with family. Instead, he was given photos of prisoner abuse. Darby eventually alerted the U.S. military command, triggering an investigation and global outrage when the scandal came to the public’s attention in 2004. Graner was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in the abuse. He was released in 2011 after serving 6½ years of his sentence. The military and members of Darby’s own family ostracized him, calling him a traitor. Eventually he and his wife had to enter protective custody. Here, an Iraqi security officer patrols the prison in 2009.
The New York Times reported in 2005 that in the months after the September 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush authorized the U.S. National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a court warrant on people in the United States, including American citizens, suspected of communicating with al Qaeda members overseas. The Bush administration staunchly defended the controversial surveillance program. Russ Tice, an NSA insider, came forward as one of the anonymous sources used by the Times. He said he was concerned about alleged abuses and a lack of oversight. Here, President Bush participates in a conversation about the Patriot Act in Buffalo, New York, in April 2004.
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is accused in the largest leak of classified documents in U.S. history. His court-martial began on June 3. He has pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 charges against him and could face up to two decades in jail. He has pleaded not guilty to the most serious charge – that of aiding U.S. enemies, which carries the potential for a life sentence. At a February proceeding, Manning read a statement detailing why and how he sent classified material in 2010 to WikiLeaks, a group that facilitates the anonymous leaking of secret information through its website.
Former intelligence worker Edward Snowden revealed himself as the source of documents outlining a massive effort by the NSA to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. Snowden, 29, fled to Hong Kong after copying the last set of documents. He says he just wanted the public to know what the government was doing. “Even if you’re not doing anything wrong you’re being watched and recorded,” he said. The Justice Department has begun a preliminary investigation into what it called “the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by an individual with authorized access.”
