Syria Doomed to Failed State Status Amid 'Huge Power Vacuum' If Assad Removed

If President Assad is removed from power, it will create a huge power vacuum in the country which will be instantly filled with jihadist groups; they will foul up the county and it will remain a failed state for decades, according to Gunter Meyer, a German political scientist and one of Europe’s leading experts on the Middle East.

President Assad should remain at power in Syria, at least during the transition period, Gunter Meyer, the Director of the Center for Research on the Arab World at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, said in an interview with German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

The current president is able to unite the country and keep it under control, the expert said.

His removal will create a “huge power vacuum” which would instantly be filled by jihadist groups. They would foul up the county and it will remain a failed state for decades, without any prospects of peace settlement, Meyer explained.

The political analyst also noted that the former al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's ex-affiliate in Syria which recently changed its name to Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham and announced that it had broken all the ties with al-Qaeda, poses a particular threat.

The expert noted that it has taken upon itself the leadership and command over all the government’s adversaries operating on the ground in Syria.

They have used the recent ceasefire to transfer arms and weapons to al-Nusra from Turkey with the financial support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, thus strengthening the terrorist group, which is now able to defend itself well.

Gunter Meyer also said that this terrorist groups is closely intertwined with the other rebels which the US regards as “moderate opposition” and supports militarily and financially.

The expert also noted that the US and Germany indirectly support the opposition and thus the terrorist group by sharing air reconnaissance data with the rebels.