On December 1, 2007, the National Council of the Damascus Declaration, the umbrella organization of Syrian opposition forces and parties, held its first assembly in Damascus. It was the largest conference of the Syrian opposition since mid-2005. Syrian authorities responded with a wave of arrests, beginning December 9, 2007, detaining dozens of Damascus Declaration activists. In addition, an incitement campaign was launched against the organization and its leaders.
While Syrian officials made little reference to the arrests, a Syrian opposition site reported that when asked about them during a meeting with UNESCO Secretary-General Koichiro Matsuura, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad replied that the detainees "had conspired with foreign embassies and received funds in order to undermine [Syria's] internal stability and ignite civil strife, so as to propel Syria towards the same fate that has befallen Iraq." He added, "Their case will be decided by the court."
The Syrian government press also ignored the arrests, except to deny statements by U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Patrick Kennedy who, following a visit to Syria in late December 2007, said that Assad had promised them that the prisoners would be released. The press's denial cited a "senior media source" as stating that "a foreign official is permitted, at most, to ask about the general situation [in Syria], and to listen to the reply. But nobody may interfere in Syria's domestic affairs."
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