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Berlin: Former Syrian vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam, a fierce critic of President Bashar Al Assad, told a German magazine he was forming a government in exile and believed Bashar would be forced from power this year. Khaddam, who now lives in Paris, told Der Spiegel yesterday that Bashar was facing growing pressure from economic problems at home and the international investigation into the killing of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. "His fall has already begun. I don't think his regime will last out this year," Khaddam, who accuses Bashar of ordering Hariri's murder, said.
The former vice-president, for 30 years a confidant of Bashar's late father, Syrian leader Hafez Al Assad, left the government last June. He has been accused of treason and expelled from the ruling Baath Party after a series of verbal attacks on the president. Asked by the German magazine whether he was seeking to form a government-in-exile, Khaddam said: "That is correct." He said he would be ready to work with both Islamist leaders, whom he called "part of the rich Islamic mosaic that defines the basic character of our country" and the Baath Party. "I would not rule out any political group that sticks to the basic rules of democracy," he said. Meanwhile, sources yesterday denied reports that French authorities had asked Saudi Arabia and the UAE to receive Khaddam. The reports are baseless, said the source, referring to a report by the Al Jazeera news channel.
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