Brotherhood to launch party for post-Assad era

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

Members of Syria’s Brotherhood attend a press meeting in Istanbul. The group plans to launch a political party, saying it was ready for the post-al-Assad era.

Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, a key opponent of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, announced plans on July 20 to launch an Islamist political party, saying it was ready for the post-al-Assad era.

“The decision has been taken to create an Islamic party,” the head of the Brotherhood’s political wing, Ali Beyanouni, told journalists after the group completed a four-day conference in Istanbul. The new party would be “open to all Syrians” and will promote a “democratic and pluralist” vision of the state based on the equality of all citizens, Beyanouni said.

“We are ready for the post-Assad era, we have plans for the economy, the courts, politics,” said Mulhem al-Droubi, the Brotherhood’s spokesman. The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist political movement founded in Egypt in 1928 and has branches and affiliates around the world.

The Brotherhood plays a key role in the Syrian National Council, the opposition coalition opposing al-Assad.