« SYRIA PRESS REVIEW » #62

France ready to support regional war

The fake e-mails by the al-Assad couple released by the Guardian were startling in their naivete; everyone was thus looking forward to further developments. Consider it done: The Daily Telegraph asserts that the online shopping attributed to Asma al-Assad violates the unilateral sanctions of the European Union and is liable to two years in prison. In addition, after the Guardian’s commitment not to reveal the private e-mails, the Daily Telegraph published details of an alleged extramarital affair by President al-Assad to shatter the image of an ideal couple.

This propaganda operation is mainly orchestrated to hide what is currently happening. The Turkish Army contemplates penetrating into Syrian territory to secure a rebel base on the pretext of protecting civilians. NATO is repeating here with it did in Kosovo in terms of violating international law, but without taking center stage. This new war could find some semblance of international legitimacy if it were to garner the political support of a significant number of the States attending the second "Friends of Syria" conference on 2 April 2012 in Turkey. NATO could thus indirectly measure itself against the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

In an interview with Le Monde, Alain Juppe warned that in case the war would extend to Israel, Paris would stand with Tel Aviv.

• The French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, gave an interview to Le Monde. He denounces the stance of the Christian patriarchs in favor of the Syrian regime. In particular, he pledged that "on the assumption that Israel were attacked, we (France) would be on her side."

• Building on the fake e-mails of the al-Assad couple, the Guardian affirms that the Syrian president bypasses his male advisers and surrounds himself with beautiful young women. The newspaper sketches the profile of Hadeel al-Ati, one of his public relations advisers.

• Consolidating the shift which has been unfolding over the last month from classic propaganda to pure fiction (see the stories by Jonathan Littell and Tahar Ben Jelloun), the National Post publishes the imaginary note-books of Asma al-Assad. Novels have now replaced reports and documents on the pages of major newspapers.

• Gulf News reports on the influential Egyptian sheik Saywat Hejazi’s statement that killing President al-Assad is the duty of every Muslim. "He who has the opportunity of killing al-Assad and fails to do so is a sinner," he said.