The Honored No. (27) Waheed Saqr

1. He was born in the village of Zama in the city of Jableh, Syria, in 1960.
2. He worked in the Internal Security Forces in Damascus in 1979.
3. He left Syria and founded the newspaper (Shafaf al-Sham) in 2006, which is a printed and electronic newspaper based in London.
4. He was a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and a member of the Arab Journalists Union.
5. His family faced pressure from the Syrian intelligence to disown him.
6. After the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, Wahid Saqr became one of the prominent Alawite opponents of the Syrian regime and was among the first from the Alawite community to join the revolution.
7. He carried the banner for the participation of Syrian Alawites in the revolution against the Assad regime.
8. He founded the Unified Syrian Bloc and participated in several meetings of the Syrian opposition.
9. He was one of the prominent founders of the National Change Current alongside Ammar al-Qurabi, Bahiya Mardini, Zaher Baadarani, and the Sanqar family.
10. He became a member of the National Commission for the Unity of the Syrian Revolution and participated in numerous attempts to restructure the Free Syrian Army and rebuild the opposition.
11. He participated in a joint Syrian delegation in discussions with the Secretary-General of the Arab League.
12. He passed away in London on November 7, 2015, after suffering from illness.
13. Before his death, he accused Russia of being involved in his poisoning during his visit to Moscow as part of a Syrian opposition delegation in 2013.
14. One of his notable stances revealed before his death was when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov requested to meet with him privately and admonished him, saying: “How can you stand with the opposition when you are Alawite?” He replied: “I am with my people, and I cannot stand with a criminal.” Lavrov insisted that at least, as an Alawite, he should pretend to be with the opposition while actually supporting Assad and the Alawites, trying to persuade him to stand with Assad. Saqr responded: “I am not the one who does that.”
15. The social media pages of free Syrians were filled with condolences for Wahid Saqr, in contrast to the pro-regime pages that launched what was considered that day “the worst and most heinous” smear campaign against a man who had passed away.

Here’s the translation to English:

We, in the Syrian Future Movement (SFM), recognize the rich and illustrious history of struggle, politics, and national identity, as well as the support he provided to his people in their revolution against injustice and tyranny. In gratitude for the contributions of Syria’s towering figures and its great men, we present this week the Syrian Future Movement (SFM) Shield to the ‘Falcon of the Syrian Opposition,’ Wahid Saqr. This symbolic Syrian shield embodies our vision and our inclusive national approach.