They are supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria

By Ghaleb Kandil

They are supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria

The Syrian national state and its armed forces are continuing to fiercely resist the global war targeting them. And while they are deploying all efforts and capabilities to provide the requirements of economic steadfastness and overcome the consequences of the terrorism and armed rebellion carried out in some provinces, they are waging a strategic campaign to annihilate the strongholds of the terrorists, tens of thousands of whom were introduced during the last few months, through the Turkish and Lebanese border in particular.

Firstly, the course of the military operations reflects the success of the Syrian Arab army to control the situation, after it thwarted Erdogan’s plan to establish a bugger zone and pushed towards the emergence of information confirming that the armed men’s presence in some neighborhoods of Aleppo has retreated. Indeed, the Syrian army was able to control most of the city’s neighborhoods, while normalcy was restored to Homs and Deir az-Zor. In the meantime, the Syrian armed forces are implementing a wide-scale assault in Damascus, its surrounding and Rif, in order to destroy the dens of terrorism and impose the state’s authority, while military and security reports estimate that the next few weeks will witness the Syrian state’s regaining of its full control over all the provinces and border regions. Nonetheless, some fleeing groups among the terrorist remnants and some sleeper cells might maintain their presence, thus keeping the threat of seeing terrorist attacks and sabotage operations alive, during a stage for which the Syrian state is already preparing. Nonetheless, for the time being, the priority is to settle the situation in general and revive the economic wheel, in order to restore normalcy throughout Syria.

Secondly, the actual fighting power on the ground is that of Al-Qaeda, its various factions and the military wing of the Muslim Brotherhood organization. As for the groups that are outside this gathering, they are scattered and merely constitute local organizations and gatherings which include criminals, thieves and bandits. According to the information, the operations room in Turkey, led by officers from the American intelligence services with the participation of Qatari, Saudi, Lebanese and Libyan security groups, is the one giving orders and providing the fighting groups inside Syrian with information and plans, but also organizing the arms, ammunition and explosives smuggling operations and giving orders to the sabotage cells throughout Syria to carry out explosions and assassinations.

Thirdly, Western hypocrisy in regard to terrorism and the network of Al-Qaeda organization is being confirmed by what is happening in Syria. Indeed, had the standards set by the Americans since September 11 been applied, international conferences would have been held to support the Syrian state in the face of Al-Qaeda and the terrorist groups that are active on Syrian soil, and what would have been required throughout the world would be the provision of weapons and assistance to the Syrian authorities and the Syrian army, in order to hasten the elimination of the terrorists and takfiris who constituted the main nerve of the armed rebellion dubbed by the American and Western media outlets “the armed opposition in Syria.”

The claims of the Americans and Europeans in regard to Al-Qaeda and terrorism have once again collapsed, through the use of the tafiri factions the cells of Bandar’s Al-Qaeda to deplete the Syrian state. Anything else is a mere lie, since in fact, there is nothing called the Free Army in the American reports and statements, as this name is being used by Al-Qaeda and the extremist groups adopting its ideology and culture, along with the military wing of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Syria. The Syrian people are thus facing a multinational terrorist mixture that is undermining their right to live, as well as their sovereignty and national dignity, at a time when the Syrian state and army are engaged in the confrontation on all levels with a resistance and national liberation will and a determination to defeat the backward international alliance that is led by the United States and is using Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood to form groups of mercenaries and professional murders and criminals.

Arab Affairs.

The deal which was confirmed by Morsi

The heated events in Egypt revealed a series of facts which will have a great impact on the development of the situation in the Arab countries in general, and especially at the level of the so-called Arab spring.

Firstly, it became clear that the command of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Egypt, i.e. the central command of the MB throughout the region, drew up its plans to control power based on a trade off with the United States and Israel to reproduce the political and security task which was given to Hosni Mubarak’s and Anwar Sadat’s regimes in accordance with the Camp David accords. This confirmed the veracity of the reports and information which emerged two years ago in regard to understandings between the United States and the leaders of the MB in the region under Turkish and Qatari tutelage, saying that the West will adopt the MB organizations as the new ruling elite, in exchange for pledges offered by the Muslim Brotherhood leaders to ensure Israel’s security and the American and Western interests in the region.

Secondly, the only changing factor on which President Muhammad Morsi relied to issue his constitutional declaration and clash with the overwhelming popular majority in the region, was the American and Israeli support he received due to the role played by the Egyptian government in the negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli government to reach a new truce agreement, but also in light of the security and political pledges and commitments made by the Egyptian command to tighten the siege around the Gaza Strip and prevent the smuggling of weapons and missiles to the resistance factions that desperately need them to defend Gaza that is being subjected to continuous attacks, despite the truce agreement. This is happening at a time when Morsi’s government or the Muslim Brotherhood command did not move a muscle, even contributed to Hamas’s mobilization of the police force along the separation line between the occupation and the Gaza Strip to prevent the staging of any operation in response to the enemy’s violations.

Thirdly, the political conflict which erupted in Egypt and polarized the active forces in Egyptian society seems to have widened. Consequently, the MB leaders are now standing in the face of a real popular majority which includes Nasseri movements, Egyptian national radical powers and the Egyptian state’s military and civilian bureaucrats who fear seeing the state’s apparatuses and institutions controlled by an MB coup, governed by partisan bigotry and an overwhelming desire to impose the group’s hegemony.

Fourthly, the fact that this large gathering has just started working collectively does not mean it will be unable to organize its ranks and reach a political program. And in the course of the conflict, regardless of the shape it will take in the next stage, it seems clear that the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group removed the masks off their faces when they reproduced the American and Israeli support to the new regime due to the favors they offered in the Gaza war, and their plans to lead Hamas out of the resistance system and annex it to the negotiations project between the Palestinian authority and Israel at the expense of the resistance option and the right of return.

The exposure of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders and their resounding collapse in Egypt will inaugurate the coming changes in Yemen, Libya, Tunisia and Syria, where the MB organization is the cornerstone of the political front adopted by the Americans and their agents in the region, in order to manage the war on Syria, at a time when the MB’s military wing is fighting alongside the Nusra Front and other Al-Qaeda formations against the Syrian national army.

News Analysis.

By Nasser Kandil

Iran, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

Since the eighties, the role played by the Muslim Brotherhood in the war on Syria became clear, in parallel to the war launched by the former Iraqi regime against Iran with Gulf funding and Western implication in order to destroy both the Iraqi and Iranian capabilities. The leaders of the Gulf led the two wars to trigger sectarian strife in the region, in order to besiege Arab nationalism which was shown by Syria and Iraq in the face of Camp David, and the Islamic Revolution and what it represented for the people of the region. Despite that, the Iranian command persisted, along with Hezbollah which was only starting to be formed at the time, and both of them wagered on a role by the Islamists in Egypt and the region, especially the central organization leading them, i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood.

But the wager on the Jihadists collapsed since the beginning, and despite their assassination of Sadat, when they bragged about their turn towards Al-Qaeda at the level of their ideology and organization, and developed an inexplicable hostility by their announced political and religious slogans towards Iran, and later on against Hezbollah. But the MB remained on the arena, and the equation was that the latter was the main group composing the Egyptian opposition against Mubarak’s regime and the supporter of Hamas which was officially taking shape on the beat of the stones uprising in 1987. The late Yasser Arafat then headed to Oslo, and it seemed that the wager on Hamas was right on the mark, although it was being supported at the expense of the Jihad movement which was led by martyr Fathi al-Shakaki with the integrity of resistance fighters.

Years went by and Iran and Hezbollah continued to hope for the rise of the Islamic movement led by the MB in favor of a transformation in the region, that would restore consideration to the principle of the main conflict with Israel. Naturally, Iran’s and Hezbollah’s standards were not based on the position towards democratic change or economic development as it was claimed by a liberal leftist such as Azmi Bechara, considering that Palestine was the only compass.

The Tunisian Ennahda movement, which grew up in Iran’s lap and whose leader Al-Ghannouchi addressed Sayyed Nasrallah after July 2006 by calling him “my imam, my master and my leader,” emerged in the West’s lap following the Tunisian revolution. As for the Egyptian MB, which was always praised and differentiated from the Syrian MB, did not hesitate to flaunt its insistence on the Camp David Accords, while analysts revolving in its space came out to talk about the priorities, thus removing Palestine from the list. As for Yasser al-Zaatera, who constantly appeared on Al-Jazeera channel following the Gaza battles between Fatah and Hamas to talk about the resistance as a priority, is now publically saying that the priority is the enhancement of the MB’s authority in Egypt.

The Gaza war constituted an American-Israeli rest for the MB experience in Egypt and Gaza. This test is taking place before our eyes and the outcome is the enhancement of the MB’s and Hamas’s status within the Qatari-Turkish-Egyptian alliance that is strongly present in the Western lap. The Gaza understanding revealed that the resistance is no longer a priority, even acts of hostility, and that the movement, just like the Islamic Jihad which is the closest ally to the resistance, approved these understanding without reservations and described the Egyptian president via its leader as being Omar Ibn al-Khattab.

But the priority is not the enhancement of the MB authority, rather Syria’s toppling to seal a deal that was already made, under American tutelage and with an Israeli consent. Its parties overcame their disputes and Saudi Arabia held Mahmoud Abbas’ hand to proclaim Palestine a state and an observer, while Egypt and Qatar held Hamas’s hand to ensure calm and announce the support of Abbas’ step and the acceptance of a state on the 1967 territories in the context of the greater deal.

But there will be no role for Russia, Iran or Hezbollah outside their countries’ border if Syria collapses, and there will be no future for Palestine and the resistance if Syria falls. Hence, Syrian victory will combine all the allies. Syria is strong with its people and army, but the war is taking place at the level of the capabilities of the countries around the world, as well as the sectarian and denominational mobilization abilities. No one is required to fight in Syria or to dispatch troops to it, rather to settle the illusions surrounding the Muslim Brotherhood and what happened at the United Nations, and how the Gaza victory was sold.

Arab File.

Palestine.

The United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of granting Palestine an observer non-member state status at the United Nations. This decision was supported by 138 countries, while 9 opposed it and 41 abstained from voting. Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said before the UN General Assembly: The states that voted in favor of the attempts to establish a Palestinian state are courageous. This confirms to our people that they are not alone and that their wager was not mistaken. The Palestinians support peace and this is why we came here.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this international decision will not change anything on the ground and will not cause the establishment of a Palestinian state, although he did recant his threats to the Palestinian authority.

Syria.

The regular troops proceeded with their qualitative operations in several regions, thus eliminating dozens of elements, some of whom belonging to Al-Qaeda, and destroying vehicles equipped with various machineguns and weapons. Moreover, they destroyed training camps for the terrorists and defused several bombs which were set up to be remotely detonated.

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Syrian opposition used children in the fight, as well as 14-year old boys who transported weapons and supplies. The organization added it interviewed five boys whose ages ranged between 14 and 16, all saying they worked with the opposition fighters in Daraa and Homs, as well as on the northern border with Turkey. According to the international criminal court, the recruitment of children under 15 years old or their implication in combat operations was considered a war crime.

In the meantime, the Russian Foreign Ministry fiercely condemned the terrorist explosions which targeted Germana, indicating that they carried Al-Qaeda’s fingerprints. As for Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi, he believed that the confrontation in Syria had reached it most complex, difficult and violent stage, accusing the opposition coalition of being engaged in a strategic alliance with Al-Qaeda organization. UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi stated before a United National General Assembly meeting in New York on Friday that the chances of seeing a permanent resolution of the Syrian conflict via negotiations which extremely week. He added: “Even inside Syria, there is no trust between the two sides and they do not identify the problem using the same terms. The states which used to support political settlement in Syria have become hostile towards the regime in Damascus and are now supporting the armed opposition, which is rendering it more difficult for them to agree over a peaceful process in the near future.”

Egypt.

The sit-ins continued on Tahrir Square and in a number of Egyptian provinces in protest against the Constitutional Declaration issued by President Muhammad Morsi and expanding his prerogatives. The battles thus continued between demonstrators and security forces on Tahrir Square, leading to the fall of deal and wounded among the citizens. In this context, 35 Egyptian movements and parties announced the organization of actions on the Square to confirm the continuation of their sit-in until the annulment of the Constitutional Declaration. On Friday, thousands of Egyptians gathered on Martyr’s Dream Day on Tahrir Square with the participation of the leaders of the opposition parties.

The founder of the People’s Movement, Hamdin Sabahi, said that he president wanted to be above the state, but he will never achieve that goal. He added: “The protests will continue until the annulment of the Declaration and Tahrir Square will constitute a model for Egypt’s rejection of a new dictator.” As for leader of the Ad-Dostor Party, Muhammad al-Baradei, he said: “Morsi is trying to violate power,” warning against seeing the country sliding towards civil war if the marginalization of the moderate powers continues.

For its part, the Egyptian president refused to recant the constitutional declaration, considering that it aimed at “achieving the aspirations of the people and allowing the success of the democratic transformation.” It added: “It is necessary to hold those responsible for corruption under the former regime accountable and uphold the rights of the martyrs and the injured.” As for President Morsi, he believed that the declaration “achieved the country’s and the revolution’s interest and did not go against the independence of the judiciary.” He continued: “This decision had to be adopted at this point in time. The Egyptian people will have their say through a referendum over the constitutional draft. If it is accepted, all the constitutional declarations will become null.”

Tunisia.

The violent confrontations escalated between thousands of protesters against marginalization and the security forces in the northwestern part of Tunisia, which resulted in the fall of more than 200 wounded among the civilians. In the meantime, the capital and other areas witnessed solidarity protests, while the opposition parties condemned the excessive violence used by the government led by Ennahda movement to oppress the demonstrators. It is worth mentioning that the latter are demanding the exclusion of the Wali who is affiliated with the Islamic Ennahda movement, economic development and the release of protesters arrested in April of last year. On the other hand, the Tunisian Wafa Movement responded to the statements of interim President Moncef al-Marzouki, in which he considered it would be impossible to stipulate the incrimination of normalization with Israel in the new Tunisian constitution, saying that normalization was a red line.

Israeli File.

The United Nations’ General Assembly decision to upgrade the Palestinian authority’s status to that of a non-member state in the international organization, occupied the main headlines of the Israeli papers issued this week. Political analysts thus diverged between those who supported and those who opposed the Palestinian step, as Yediot Aharonot’s analysts considered that the Palestinian move did not harm Israel and could possibly serve it, while Haaretz believed that the recognition of the state of Palestine at the United Nations was an international warning to Israel, saying that the world has grown sick and tired of the settlement activities and the rejection of peace, in the face of an international support and solidarity with the Palestinian people and their aspirations.

On the other hand, the analysts all rejected the policy adopted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the failure of Israeli diplomacy in the face of the Palestinian step.

At the level of Israeli domestic affairs, the papers spoke about the internal elections of the Likud Party, and the announcement by Defense Minister Ehud Barak of the fact that he quit political life. They also tackled Tzipi Livni’s return to the political arena, following her decision to form a new party to engage in the upcoming Knesset elections.

Yediot Aharonot spoke about the palpable escalation of hostility towards Israel ever since the launching of the Israeli military operations against the Gaza Strip, as many activities and demonstrations were staged against the Israeli racist practices. Moreover, attacks against members of the Jewish Diaspora were detected, alongside the tagging of the walls of Jewish temples.

Lebanese Affairs.

Sakr’s tapes: the smuggling of arms and the management of terrorist cells.

The tapes, whose transcript was carried by the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper of Deputy Okab Sakr, constituted yet another proof for the extent of Saad al-Hariri’s and the Future Movement’s involvement in the global war on Syria. Their revelation coincided with the death of groups of Lebanese armed men who were sent from Tripoli to Tal Kalakh, in the context of the plan to mobilize the armed men by the American intelligence services in Turkey.

Firstly, since March 2011, reports and information have been emerging about the Future Movement’s implication in the smuggling of arms and armed men to Syria, all of which were denied by Saad al-Hariri and his aides who accused Syrian, Lebanese and foreign media outlets of fabricating these reports. This was seen despite the confessions made by Syrian terrorists who assured that they received weapons and funds from leaders and deputies in the Future Movement, and despite the information pointing to the involvement of many leaders and cadres in the Future Movement in the establishment of camps, the introduction of arms shipments to the Tripoli Port, their stocking inside the city and the management of their smuggling networks into Syria.

Secondly, the voice recordings constitute proof for the moral and political collapse of the Future Movement, its leader Saad al-Hariri and all the other leaders of this group which always bragged about being distant from the use of weapons, from armed men and the militias. Saad al-Hariri and his aide Okab Sakr have truly earned their status in the world of arms trade, arms smuggling, arms smugglers and the commanders of the killing and terrorism networks inside Syria. In the meantime, the militia character in Saad al-Hariri’s personality came out, after he mobilized his armed men and assigned the militia elements of his party to burn tires and attack passerby, the army and the media correspondents in the South, the Bekaa and the North more than once since he exited power, and after his day of wrath which he concluded by apologizing for the crimes of his armed men, knowing that this apology did not convince anyone.

In the meantime, the politicians who are remaining silent in the face of the scandalous implication of the Future Movement in the organization of terrorist crimes and the smuggling of weapons and armed men into Syria upon instructions from the American and Saudi intelligence services, are divided between those collaborating against Syria and those unable to adopt a position – even if at a minimum level – in the context of the alleged abstinence policy.