Hussain Abdul-Hussain

Syrian Ambassador to the US Imad Mustafa is involved in activities that vary between espionage, threatening Syrian dissidents, and lobbying and organizing rallies in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 
So far, Washington has been exceptionally tolerant toward Assad's envoy. But in Syria today, humanitarian concerns should trump political interests. For his role in bolstering the regime at the expense of innocent Syrians, Mustafa should be expelled from Washington.

In the three months since the Syrian uprising began, Mustafa has been involved in a lot of shady dealings.
Last month, an American law enforcement officer contacted Syrian opposition activists based in the US to tell them that he had nabbed a Syrian-American who was conducting surveillance on them. The dissidents were urged to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity they might encounter.
The activists later learned that Mustafa had sent the man to watch them. They concluded that his mission was to report on them back to Damascus so that the Assad regime could threaten their families back home.

In Antalya, where Syrian opposition members gathered early this month for a conference on their movement, activists received an email from a travel agent saying that the sons of well-known Syrian military officers Bahjat Suleiman and Ali Douba had arranged and paid for the travel and lodging of 50 Syrians in the Falez Hotel, where the opposition was holding its conference, and instructed them to cause trouble.
There too, Mustafa had eyes and ears.
 
A Christian Syrian in Silver Springs, Maryland received a forwarded email from fellow Christian Syrian-Americans. The email showed an exchange in which Mustafa urged "Christians of New Jersey" to organize and fund a collective trip to rally in support of Assad in front of the White House.

When news of this was leaked to Syrian-American opposition activists, they countered with a rally of their own, forcing the Secret Service to form a line to separate the two demonstrations. Despite the security presence, a pro-Assad protester tried to physically bully the pro-democracy demonstrators. He was arrested, and a knife was found on him.

In Arlington, Virginia, a Syrian dissident learned that Mustafa had planted a "rat" in their meetings. The rat, on the payroll of one of Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad's "NGOs," had introduced himself as an opposition supporter, but the opposition discovered that the man was in contact with Mustafa, who regularly debriefed him and instructed him on which points to propose and support in the opposition meetings.

At a meeting in Georgetown, Washington on Monday, Mustafa himself showed a crowd of American NGO workers and think tank experts YouTube footage of pro-Assad rallies in Syria, arguing that the situation was not as grave as the media was portraying it, and that the Assad regime was in fact "in touch" with the opposition. Mustafa did not specify the nature of his relations with the opposition in America, which he has been trying to infiltrate. He only said talks with them were underway to implement Assad's "view for a democratic Syria."

In fact, since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, the Assad regime has succeeded, through a combination of intimidation and bribes, in winning over a handful of opposition figures. Whether in Syria or in Canada, where a "comprehensive document for dialogue" was unveiled last week, these converts are now preaching "dialogue" with Assad, echoing the Syrian ruler's rhetoric and ignoring the protesting masses and their demand that Assad step down.

Mustafa has also been instrumental in imposing censorship on any anti-Assad writings or even musical pieces that might surface in the United States. When pianist Malik Jandali announced that he was going to play the tune “My Homeland” in support of the Syrian revolution at the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the group – headed by Mustafa's friend, Safa Rifka – uninvited the Syrian-American musician.

Mustafa and other Syrian diplomats, whether at the UN in New York or in capitals like Paris and Moscow, were instrumental in helping Assad rebound from his major setback in 2005, after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, when Damascus, which many blamed for the murder, was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and face international isolation for years.
Today they hope to repeat past campaigns, albeit in a much more vigorous way, to get Assad off the hook and shield him from international anger.

Syria's diplomats, including Mustafa in Washington, have assumed roles that go far beyond their job description. These ambassadors spy on dissidents, threaten them in exile and their families in Syria, and organize pro-Assad rallies in world capitals. Their role outside Syria makes them partners in Assad's crimes just like any one of the paid thugs or security personnel inside Syria.
Political and strategic considerations aside, and based on humanitarian concerns and the need to protect Syrian citizens from their own ruler and his lieutenants, Washington should expel Imad Mustafa.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain is the Washington Bureau Chief of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai