Syrian Minister of Culture Riyad Na'san Al-Agha Justifies the Persecution of Syrian Intellectuals and Declares: I Am Optimistic that Israel Will Come to an End within 10 Years

Following are excerpts from an interview with Syrian Minister of Culture Riyad Na'san al-Agha, which aired on Al-Hiwar on April 19, 2008.

Riyad Na'san al-Agha: In my capacity as minister, I can say that people sometimes fail to understand the motives of the opposition. There are some oppositionists who are suspected by the security agencies of having clandestine ties with embassies or other elements. They suspect that these people commit certain acts, the significance of which I have no way of determining. The security agencies, which are privy to information I don't have, can determine this. I have no way of knowing. For example, I asked once why a certain person was placed in jail, and I was told that he had met with all sorts of peoples, and so on. I have no way of knowing if this is true. It's not my job to know. This is a security matter, and there are people whose job it is to deal with it.

[...]

For example, some writers are currently facing trial in Syria. Some of them are friends of mine, whom I have known for many years – members of the opposition with whom I have debated one TV. I can even divulge to you that many years ago, I spoke with President Hafez Al-Assad on behalf of some of them. They were not in jail back then. I suggested them for senior posts in the civil service, but then, I was surprised to hear them present certain views, which caused me great embarrassment.

Interviewer: As an intellectual, are you ready to accept that intellectuals are placed on trial?

Riyad Na'san al-Agha: Of course. I accept the placing on trial of whoever curses the resistance [Hizbullah]. I accept the placing on trial of anyone who wants to take part in the Greater Middle East plan, with which the US controls our nation. I agree with the placing on trial of anyone who questions the identity of this nation, anyone who wants to shatter national unity to racial and ethnic pieces, and anyone who wants to instigate tensions between the different minorities.

[...]

Interviewer: What if someone is not a pan-Arab Nasserist? He refuses to believe in this theory, because the past decades have proven it to be merely empty slogans.

Riyad Na'san al-Agha: Fine, he can write an article. For the past seven years, in newspapers and on the Internet, they write about us things that bring to mind Yediot Aharonot and Haaretz, yet we did not throw anyone in jail. Some of them even went to the U.S. in order to curse us from there, and when they returned to Syria, nobody interrogated them at the airport. But they must not take any action. If they do, we will throw them in jail. I'm sorry that I've transformed from an intellectual into a governmental official. I will throw him in jail not because I am a minister, but because I fear for my nation because of these people, who are happy when they meet with a Mossad officer, even when Gaza is trampled under enemy shoes. They are happy even if Baghdad is turned into a cemetery inhabited by ghosts, just so they can raise toasts with some Mossad agents in Washington or New York. I am not talking as a minister, but as an injured citizen. I will not allow anyone to dance on the body parts of my people, and then talk about his liberties. No, he is not at liberty to do this. I want to remind you of something the caliph Muawiyah said: "We shall not separate people from their tongues, as long as they do not separate us from our authority." They can say what they want, but if they act, they will be punished. They can curse or make statements, but if they become tantamount to a secret squad, which assassinates a great citizen, a hero, a martyrdom-seeker, like Mughniya... The person who killed him relies on an ideological group.