Syria Brotherhood denies eyeing power

The exiled leader of Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood denied yesterday widespread accusations by other pro-opposition political factions that the group is seeking to impose its will on other members of the opposition. The rare news conference by Mohamamad Riad Al-Shaqfa highlights the suspicions that his movement has raised in an already fractured opposition. The group has a powerful donor network among members in exile and supporters in Gulf countries, especially Qatar. Many in the opposition say the group uses its support and money as key levers for influence. “Our aim is not to tear apart but to unite the (Syrian) opposition,” Al-Shaqfa said at the news conference in Istanbul, where he is based. He blamed accusations against his group on “lies and fabrications” that he said were spread by the regime of President Bashar Assad. Tensions within the opposition rose last month with the election of Ghassan Hitto, a little known figure, as interim prime minister for the opposition. Some of his critics claimed the Muslim Brotherhood was behind his election. Among those who regularly attack the Brotherhood are veteran secular dissidents such as Kamal Labwani, who accuses the group of using money to build allegiances on the ground in Syria. He and about a dozen other members of the coalition suspended their membership a day after it elected Hitto, complaining of the dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood in the council. Al-Shaqfa also denied that the Muslim Brotherhood is positioning itself to grab power should Assad’s regime fall. “These are all lies, slanderous statements against the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said. “We are not after any gains and we do not seek power. We await the fall of this regime so that the people can practice their role in choosing their own leaders,” Al-Shaqfa added. His comments came as Syrian activists reported that government warplanes carried out more airstrikes around the country. Meanwhile, Germany yesterday airlifted more than 30 badly wounded Syrian refugees from Jordan for medical care in its hospitals in what it called a “humanitarian gesture” amid the bloody civil war. The injured, among them women and children, were flown aboard a specially equipped air force plane and were to be transferred to four German military hospitals in cities including Berlin and Hamburg. “The civil war in Syria has already claimed far too many lives,” said Westerwelle at a press conference with Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby. “We want to make a small contribution to lessen the unimaginable suffering of the people of Syria, and we want to show that Germany at this time of hardship is especially close to the Syrian people.” Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Moaz Al-Khatib had requested the help - believed to be the first medical airlift of its kind by a European nation amid the more than two-year-old Syrian conflict. Sourse: ArabNews