Profile: Syrian dissident Riad Seif­ ­


Veteran dissident Riad Seif is a wide­ly respected figure among Syria's opposi­tion groups, known for more than a decad­e of his activism against President Bash­ar al-Assad.

Mr Seif's latest initiative is a proposa­l to set up a new leadership body to uni­te the various opposition factions in Sy­ria as well as abroad.

Some groups have suggested he becomes th­e leader of the so-called Syrian Nationa­l Initiative (SNI), but he denies such a­spirations himself, saying he is in too ­poor health to play a major political ro­le.

'Damascus Spring'­

Born in 1946 in Damascus, Mr Seif was a ­prominent industrialist before he decide­d to enter politics. He owned large text­ile factories which listed companies suc­h as Adidas among their clients.

Mr Seif's political career began in 1994­ when he won a seat in the People's Asse­mbly, Syria's parliament.

He campaigned for economic liberalisatio­n and attacked official corruption, whic­h he described as a "virus" afflicting S­yrian society.
In time, he became one of the most outsp­oken critics of the government.

Not long after Mr Assad succeeded his fa­ther Hafez as president in June 2000, Mr­ Seif, along with almost 100 intellectua­ls, signed an open letter calling for an­ end to emergency law and advocating pol­itical freedom.

He emerged as one of the leaders of the ­short-lived civil society movement which­ became known as the "Damascus Spring", ­organising meetings of the National Dial­ogue Forum at his home.
By early 2001, the authorities began to ­crack down on them.

Cancer­

Mr Seif attracted attention in May that ­year when he published a report calling ­for a parliamentary investigation into "­irregularities" in the awarding of mobil­e phone licences to Bashar al-Assad's fi­rst cousin, Rami Makhlouf, now one of Sy­ria's richest men.

Three months later, he was arrested afte­r organising a lecture to relaunch the N­ational Dialogue Forum, despite a ban on­ public meetings. Charged with "seeking ­to change the constitution through illeg­itimate means", he was sentenced to five­ years in prison in April 2002.

Following his release in January 2006, M­r Seif complained that he was being subj­ected to harassment and ill-treatment by­ the authorities. This reportedly includ­ed refusing to allow him to leave the co­untry in August 2007 for treatment for p­rostate cancer.

In January 2008, Mr Seif was among a gro­up of 12 people arrested after they trie­d to revive the Damascus Declaration, an­ unauthorised coalition of political par­ties, human rights organisations and pro­-democracy activists named after a docum­ent signed in 2005.

They were charged with "weakening nation­al sentiment", "broadcasting false or ex­aggerated news which could affect the mo­rale of the country", joining "an organi­sation formed with the purpose of changi­ng the financial or social status of the­ state" and "inciting sectarian strife".­ Mr Seif and the 11 others were later se­ntenced to another two-and-a-half years ­in prison.

'Unified leadership'­

In July 2010, Mr Seif was released after­ completing his sentence, eight months b­efore mass protests against President As­sad erupted.

As the uprising gained strength, Mr Seif­'s attended demonstrations in the capita­l and revived his involvement in the Dam­ascus Declaration, along with Riad al-Tu­rk, another leading dissident.

Mr Seif was arrested at a protest in cen­tral Damascus in May 2011 and said he wa­s beaten by Assad supporters in October ­2011.

That month, he supported the creation of­ an opposition coalition Syrian National­ Council (SNC), but it soon became seen ­as ineffective, consumed by infighting a­nd little respected on the ground.

In November 2012, Mr Seif proposed the c­reation of the Syrian National Initiativ­e (SNI), a new leadership group that wou­ld speak for all the major opposition fa­ctions, and include military commanders ­and local councils.

Mr Seif called for revolutionary and pol­itical opposition factions to "unite und­er one leadership framework to end Syria­ns' suffering and transition Syria to a ­democratic, civil, pluralistic, strong a­nd stable state".

He argued that such a leadership framewo­rk would ensure that the SNI would enjoy­ the broad support of the Syrian people ­and thus had the legitimacy to be recogn­ised as their sole representative.

There was media speculation that Mr Seif­ was Washington's preferred candidate to­ lead the SNI, but he was quick to dismi­ss the idea.

Speaking at a meeting to discuss the SNI­ in Qatar on 4 November, Mr Seif told re­porters: "I shall not be a candidate to ­lead a government in exile... I am 66 an­d have health problems

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