The Muslim Brotherhood funded the Syrian opposition conference in Belgium. Like the conference in Antalya, Christians, `Alawites, and leftists were not invited. There was a clear attempt to include the dreadful reactionary elements of the tribal elders, and the pro-Saudi Salafites of course who run the show but who hide their influence from the final communique (just as Ahmad Chalabi--one of the most sectarian Shi`ites in Iraq today--used to pose as secular in pre-2003 Western capitals). When I see tribal elders, I get a strong physical reaction. These have always been tool of colonialism: witness their revival in Iraq under American occupation. And now, the tribal elders are being revived by Saudi-US plots for the region. Those of us who support the downfall of the Syrian regime, should be mindful that there should be an instant struggle to rescue the affairs of the Syrian state from the most reactionary forces represented by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (one of the most opportunist and corrupt organizations in Arab opposition movements).