{{Short description|Syrian opposition political and social activist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Riad Hammoud Darar | native_name = رياض حمود دارار | native_name_lang = ar | image = | caption = | order = | office = Co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council | term_start = 25 February 2017 | term_end = | alongside = Amina Omar | predecessor = Haytham Manna | successor = | prior_term = | order2 = | office2 = Founding member of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change | term_start2 = June 2011 | term_end2 = August 2014 | alongside2 = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}} | birth_place = Deir ez-Zor, Second Syrian Republic | death_date = | death_place = | party = | alma_mater = Bachelor's degree on Arabic language in Damascus University<ref name=pulse>{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2017/03/syria-kurdish-democratic-council-arab-leader-federal.html|title=What federalism would mean for northern Syria|work=Al-Monitor|author=Sardar Mlla Drwish|date=27 March 2017}}</ref> }} {{Politics of Syrian Opposition}} {{Politics of Rojava}}
'''Riad Hammoud Darar''' ({{langx|ar|رياض حمود دارار}}, born 1954) is a Syrian opposition political and social activist and author from Deir ez-Zor. He was a campaigner for human rights for Kurds in Syria since 2000. During his activism, he was imprisoned by the Syrian government for 5 years and was released in 2010.<ref name=kurds>{{cite book |last= Tejel|first= Jordi|date= 29 August 2008|title= Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=g4f54qsU618C|publisher= Routledge|page= 126|isbn= 978-1134096435}}</ref> On 25 February 2017, he was elected as the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council.<ref name=pulse/>
==Early life== Riad Darar was born in Deir ez-Zor in 1954. He received a bachelor's degree on Arabic language some time later, and became a preacher and an imam at a mosque in Deir ez-Zor.<ref name=pulse/>
==Political career== Since 2000, Riad Darar became a political activist and began to work with various non-governmental organizations.<ref name=pulse/> After an uprising by Kurds in Syria in 2004, Mashouq al-Khaznawi, a Kurdish Sufi religious leader, was arrested and assassinated by the Syrian military intelligence in May 2005. Riad Darar was among those who were present at al-Khaznawi's funeral, and gave a speech. The next month, Darar was arrested.<ref name=kurds/> On 2 April 2006, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Supreme State Security Court.<ref name=hr>{{cite web|url=http://www.shrc.org/en/?p=20642|title=Riad Darar Released|work=Syrian Human Rights Committee|date=11 June 2010}}</ref>
On 10 June 2010, Riad Darar was released from prison.<ref name=hr/> In June 2011, during the early phase of the Syrian uprising, he became a founding member of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, a Syrian opposition bloc.<ref name=pulse/> Riad Darar became one of the major figures in the Syrian opposition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.syriauntold.com/en/2014/02/wissam-sara-unites-syrians-in-mourning/|title=Wissam Sara Unites Syrians in Mourning|work=Syria Untold|date=4 February 2014}}</ref> In August 2014, he resigned from the NCC due to the lack of unity.<ref name=adequate>{{Cite web|url=https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/23971.html|title=Co-leader of Syrian Democratic Council says federalism is adequate choice: INTERVIEW|work=Zaman al-Wasl|author=Abdullah Ghadawi|date=5 March 2017}}</ref>
On 25 February 2017, during the second conference of the Syrian Democratic Council in al-Malikiyah, Riad Darar was elected as the co-leader of the SDC, replacing Haytham Manna, another former NCC member who resigned from the SDC. Riad Darar then announced his support for federalism and democracy in Syria,<ref name=pulse/> including in Deir ez-Zor.<ref name=adequate/>
==See also== *Michel Kilo
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Syrian Civil War}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darar, Riad}} Category:Syrian democracy activists Category:Politicians from the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Category:Living people Category:Syrian Muslims Category:Syrian imams Category:1954 births Category:People from Deir ez-Zor Category:Anti-Assad politicians of the Syrian civil war Category:Damascus University alumni