Syria: Former vice president invited to participate in 'national dialogue'

Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Charrah, has invited Farouk al-Charrah, a former vice president critical of Bashar al-Assad’s policies, to attend a national dialogue conference in Damascus, a family member told AFP.

''From the very first days of Ahmad al-Charrah's arrival in Damascus, he visited Farouk al-Charrah at his residence in the Damascus suburbs, inviting him to participate in an upcoming national conference,'' said Marwan al-Charrah, a cousin of the former vice president. ''My cousin welcomed the invitation,'' added the 55-year-old, noting that Farouk al-Charrah’s 'last public appearance' was in 2011 during a similar national dialogue conference.

Born in 1938 in Syria’s Deraa province, the veteran politician led Syrian diplomacy for 22 years before becoming vice president in 2006. In contrast to most Syrian political figures, Farouk al-Charrah openly opposed Bashar al-Assad starting in 2012, advocating for a political resolution to the country’s crisis. Since then, he had disappeared from the political scene. According to his cousin, he had been ''under house arrest,'' and both his driver and a close aide had been imprisoned.

Now 86 years old, the former diplomat ''is in good health and preparing to publish a book recounting the entire period of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, from 2000 to the present,'' said Marwan al-Charrah.