Egypt and Syria

Arab Affairs

Egypt and Syria

What happened in Egypt was definitely a revolution, but what is currently happening in Egypt is definitely not part of the revolution’s course. Until this moment, it is not yet clear why the army rushed to proclaim its known position regarding its assumption to power, while the time has not yet come for the exposure of the roles played by Qatar and Turkey in the deal which was later on revealed between the command of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Egypt and the American administration.

What is certain is that among the mysteries of this stage is the wager on the resonating impact of what is happening in Egypt on what was being concocted for Syria, i.e. the surrender of the banner to the MB group based on its pledge to achieve success at the level of the plan to strike Syria.

This means:

That the failure of the plan in Syria led to a new international and regional repositioning vis-à-vis the future of the regime in Egypt.

That the partners in the deal have become engaged in a conflict over power after the breaching of the obligations. The failure of the MB in Syria imposes its stripping of power in Egypt, as well as Qatar’s and Turkey’s exit from Cairo.

Anarchy is still at its beginning in Egypt and the threat of seeing small wars in strongly present.

New analysis

One way to stop the violence in Syria

The states involved in the campaigns against Syria are increasing the talk about the priority of the discontinuation of violence. But these states are the same ones supplying the armed gangs on Syrian soil with money and weapons, while their spokespersons are all practicing political misleading and promoting lies to elude the responsibility.

Firstly: the French and American governments sent military experts and trainers to Lebanon and Turkey to organize the armed gangs affiliated with the Istanbul Council. This information was circulated by Western American, French, British, Italian and Spanish newspapers, before being tackled by any Arab or even Syrian media outlet. This involvement reached the point where the American administration officially asked the armed men not to relinquish their weapons following the issuance of the special pardon which was announced by the Syrian Interior Ministry.

The analyses and reports being promoted by the American policymakers reveal that the economic sanctions and blockade imposed on Syria with the participation of the Western states, alongside Gulf governments and the Turkish government, aim at creating the right climate for the expansion of the activities of the armed gangs and at pushing the country towards anarchy and civil war to subjugate Syria to the political agenda which the Americans assigned Borhan Ghalioun to expose, featuring the undermining of Syria’s pivotal position in the face of Zionist colonial hegemony.

Secondly, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denied that his government was harboring armed terrorist groups carrying out killings and sabotage inside Syria, at a time when the entire world knows that the American and Western media reports confirmed the existence of these gangs on the Turkish-Syrian border and the existence of training camps and operations rooms led by the MB inside Turkish soil. This has been the case ever since the Jisr al-Shughur battles, i.e. when pictures of the MB armed elements appeared in Agence France Presse.

Thirdly: Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the other hand are the source of the funds with which the arms deals are being sealed with Lebanese and Turkish markets to smuggle weapons into Syria. These are the same funds with which the mercenaries are being bought, while the involvement of Bandar Bin Sultan and the Saudi institution of takfir led by Sheikh Saleh al-Louhaydan at the level of the Syrian events is no longer a secret to anyone. In that same context, the presence of Adnan al-Ar’our and his satellite channel in Riyadh constitutes in itself proof for the role of conspiracy and sabotage played by Saudi Arabia in Syria. Had Qatar and Saudi Arabia truly wanted to end the violence in the country, they would have discontinued their funding of the armed activities and pulled the hands of the Lebanese March 14 forces from the Syrian domestic arena as they did via the 2008 Doha accord.

Fourthly: The lie promoted by some Syrian opposition movements regarding the fact that what was happening was a peaceful action being oppressed has collapsed once and for all. This bloody violence which is being mobilized by the Western-Gulf-Turkish-Israeli alliance and being fueled with money and weapons under the cover of lame lies, aims at drowning Syria in chaos.

The political course towards reform was drawn up by President Bashar al-Assad while there is only one road towards stability. This requires the Syrian national state to carry out its duty and liquidate the armed terrorism pits throughout Syria, and respect the wishes of the Syrian people by putting an end to the dangerous depletion which has been ongoing since least year.

Syria and Russia in the face of the colonial West

The Western behavior revealed by the Security Council sessions in regard to the situation in Syria reveals a number of facts which actually reflect on the international relations and embody the colonial mentality and logic of hegemony governing the Western policies in the Arab region and around the world.

Firstly, it seems clear that the Western alliance led by the United States considers that the war on Syria is its decisive strategic battle to enhance its hegemony in the Arab countries and around the world. This is why all the efforts and capabilities on the regional and international levels have been mobilized to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power, considering he is the only remaining symbol of Arab liberation, the insistence on the Palestinian cause and the refusal to succumb to the Western colonial will and the Zionist plan aiming at imposing the recognition of the Jewish state. President Bashar al-Assad is the direct target of the Western colonial plan which the Americans and their partners in the West are trying to rearrange, in order to guarantee Israel’s protection and the enhancement of colonial hegemony.

Secondly, the facts have revealed that the Western alliance led by the United States is going through a dangerous predicament at the level of its war on Syria, considering it is unable to launch direct military intervention via NATO, while the Turkish state which is a member in NATO seems to have depleted all its efforts in the context of its attempts to undermine Syria.

Thirdly, the Western campaign focused on the Russian position that is in favor of the Syrian national state and the dialogue and reform course in Syria. Between the United States and its Western partners on one hand and Russia on the other, there is a conflict of power, interests and competition which the American analysts are even saying is heralding an upcoming world war. As for the military strategy recently issued by Obama, it was based on the fact that Russia and China are the enemies of American interests around the world. For their part, Russia and China are opposing the American and Western interferences in their internal affairs, knowing that this interference aims at depleting them and subjugating them to American will. Moscow and Washington are both aware of the fact that the war on Syria is a testing arena and a conflict over the future of the global balances following the collapse of the military and colonial adventures of the American empire throughout the past years, particularly since the occupation of Iraq.

By deterring the Western colonial plan targeting Syria, Russia is defending its national security and the principles of the establishment of an international partnership against hegemony. Hence, the Western logic towards the Syrian file is unconvincing and reflects an attempt to extend the depletion of the Syrian state and its national capabilities, far away from the claims about the efforts to end the crisis and the shedding of crocodile tears over the fall of victims.

The settlement is the wish of the Syrian people

The Syrian national state and the Syrian Arab army are proceeding with their operations on the ground to liquidate the pits of terrorism established by the militias connected to the colonial Western alliance which is waging war on Syria. The calls for a military settlement constituted the headline of the Syrian popular action throughout the past month. Indeed, urgent calls were issued from all the regions witnessing attacks on the national state and President Bashar al-Assad in particular to adopt a decision to liquidate the terrorism pits and rid the people of the control of the armed gangs through the deployment of the Syrian Arab army which is capable of crushing these gangs.

In all the regions which were subjected to the control of the terrorist militias, the people faced killings, kidnappings, theft, blackmail and the prevalence of the groups of takfir, and they have had enough of these gangs which include large numbers of mercenaries and criminals who targeted the Syrian citizens at the level of their livelihood, their security and stability. The popular rejection of the presence of the Istanbul council militias whether in Rif Damascus, Homs, Edlib, Hama or Daraa is due to the coexistence with these thugs which the citizens in these areas say they include elements from multiple Arab and foreign nationalities. Hence, the Syrian opposition linked to the Western colonial alliance has collapsed on the moral and political levels in the eyes of the Syrian public opinion, following the report of the Arab observers’ mission and the announcement of Borhan Ghalioun’s program to destroy the Syrian strength, a program which he proclaimed in the name of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group and their partners among the agents of the Western intelligence apparatuses and the mercenaries of the Gulf governments.

The Syrians consequently called on their national state to spread its authority and liquidate the terrorist gangs and the bloody militias that are spreading anarchy throughout the country. For their part, some sides in the Syrian national opposition informed the Arab observers about their rejection of the presence of the armed gangs, testifying that the foreign opposition movements which are connected to the West, the Gulf leaders and the government of the Ottoman illusion were the ones which established these gangs and hijacked the peaceful protests with their armed elements since the beginning of the events.

The timing of the action to settle this situation was connected to an accurate assessment of the international and regional equations and the collapse of the fictive climate with which the colonial alliance surrounded the Syrian events thanks to its tools and agents who mobilized a massive media network to promote a false tale which the Syrians know is wrong. The settlement against the armed gangs is the duty of any state threatened with anarchy and terrorism and the right of every citizen wishing to live in peace in a safe and stable society, and seeking civilized ways to express their opinions towards the issues related to the reality of their state and country. The Syrian people who enjoy a high level of awareness, alertness and critical sense were the ones who exposed the lies. They are standing alongside their national army, their national state and their resisting president, while eager to proclaim the victory of the resisting and Arab Syria which will grow stronger and more immune.

The Arab file

Syria

The head of the Arab observers’ mission to Syria, Major General Mohammad Mustafa al-Dabi, announced that his teams froze their activities in Syria for several days due to the seriousness of the situation. He indicated that the mission will remain in Syria and will not pull out, adding that the issue was related to the fact that the action on the field had become very risky. In statements, Al-Dabi revealed that “the Syrian opposition is not dealing with us. In its opinion, we have become similar to the Syrian government. This caused the deterioration of the state of the observers who are sitting in their hotel while unable to carry out their tasks since they cannot enter the opposition’s regions” due to their fear of its reaction.

For its part, Russia reiterated its refusal to see the imposition of sanctions on Syria. In this context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed surprise towards the Gulf States’ withdrawal of their observers from Syria.

On Saturday, a new resolution represented by Morocco and supported by Washington was discussed at the Security Council. Russia and China vetoed once again the proposed draft, considering that it did not take into consideration the interests of the Syrian people. This prompted the Americans to issue a harsh response in light of this new defeat.

On the security level, the security forces launched cleansing campaigns to rid some Syrian regions of the presence of armed groups, after these groups terrorized the population, destroyed public and private properties and attacked the citizens.

On Friday, and prior to the voting at the Security Council in favor of the draft resolution against Syria, opposition groups acting in the context of the Istanbul Council tried to claim that the Syrian national army committed a massacre in the city of Homs, in an attempt to pressure Russia and China and get them to vote in favor of the draft resolution. However, these attempts failed as it became clear that these fabrications were concocted by the anti-Syrian camp via its media tools.

On Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad took part in person in the commemoration of Prophet Muhammad’s birth in Al-Rawda Mosque in Damascus, in the presence of the Grand Mufti of the Syrian Republic Ahmad Hassoun. The clerics who participated in this anniversary all condemned the attempts to fuel sectarian strife in the country.

Egypt

Around 74 people were killed and a thousand others were wounded during riots that erupted on Wednesday evening in the city of Port Sa’id following a football match between the teams of Al-Ahly and Al-Masry. Egypt’s streets and especially the area surrounding the Interior Ministry that is close to Tahrir Square in Cairo, witnessed violent confrontations between the security forces and demonstrators who called for retaliation for the victims of the Port Sa’id massacre. In the meantime, the Egyptian parliament decided in an urgent session to address accusations of shortcomings against Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim.

For his part, Prime Minister Doctor Kamal al-Ganzouri decided to oust the governor of Port Sa’id and transfer the security chief to investigation, ordering the prosecutor to interrogate the security leaders in the area. As for the Ahly Ultras, they announced via their group on Facebook their determination to retaliate for the fall of victims, holding the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry responsible for the massacre.

Palestine

Hundreds of Palestinians among the families of the detainees in the prisons of the Israeli occupation obstructed the convoy of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as it was entering the Gaza Strip near the town of Beit Hanoun. They thus reiterated slogans opposing him and the United Nations in protest against their shortcomings at the level of the cause of the Palestinian people and the status of around five thousand detainees in the prisons of the occupation. The citizens also raised banners on which it was written: “Enough bias in favor of Israel.”

Kuwait

Last Friday, the results of the Kuwaiti parliamentary elections were announced, revealing the victory of opposition groups featuring Islamists and the total absence of women among the elected lawmakers. These results were very surprising to all analysts and observers, as the Islamists were able to obtain fourteen seats.

Israeli file

“Israel might launch a military attack against Iranian nuclear facilities next summer.” This headline stirred the Israeli public opinion and the Israeli newspapers issued last week, as security commanders confirmed the Israeli preparations to wage a military campaign against the Iranian nuclear facilities due to their concerns over the fact that the sanctions imposed on Iran were insufficient, despite the imposition of new sanctions by the European Union to gradually ban the importation of oil from Iran.

The papers also tackled the secret visit which was recently conducted by the Mossad chief to Washington in order to put forward the new Israeli assessment of Iran’s possible acquisition of nuclear weapons imminently. They also addressed the internal elections within the Likud party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lead over his only competitor Moshe Feiglin. Yediot Aharonot mentioned in this context that Netanyahu was not only ahead in the polls but also inside the party after he earned more than seventy percent of the votes. This will clearly reflect on his political and economic steps and his push towards the staging of early Knesset elections.

Lebanese affairs

News analysis

Jumblatt’s swing on the Syrian hill

During the last televised interview conducted with Mr. Walid Jumblatt following his visit to Moscow, one could see his troubled swinging vis-à-vis the events in Syria. According to some information, Moscow which enjoys a traditional relationship with Jumblatt, informed him during his talks with the Russian officials about its decisive position in favor of President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian national state and its determination to support the dialogue and reform option which was rejected by the Syrian opposition movements linked to the Western alliance. The Russian officials with whom Jumblatt met made sure to stress that the war on Syria aimed at reviving American hegemony and that Russia will not allow the success of that option and has been adopting initiatives and deploying efforts to convince the Syrian opposition movements to proceed with the political solution and participate in the dialogue and the reform process for which President Bashar al-Assad set a clear course and a practical timetable.

A few months ago, the Russian command dispatched a special envoy who conveyed this position to Jumblatt. But Jumblatt did not take the advice into account, as he was under the influence of his meetings with Jeffrey Feltman who set false dates for the achievement of the illusion of the Syrian state’s collapse. Throughout his televised interview, as usual, Jumblatt tried to carry out his political swings which follow his “moments of abandonment.” In the past he had attempted to recant his hostile statements toward Syria and Hezbollah. And some at the time considered that he had started to back down on the positions he adopted ever since the ousting of Al-Hariri’s government. But now, some expected the announcement of Jumblatt’s and his party’s return to the March 14 alliance and even set deadlines for the achievement of that step.

Following his visit to Moscow, Jumblatt assured he was insisting on the governmental coalition regardless of what happened, announcing his support in favor of a political solution in Syria. All of a sudden, he went from attacking President Al-Assad and using the rhetoric of Borhan Ghalioun, the Istanbul Council and the militias of terrorism and killing while talking about Syria, to stressing the necessity of adopting the political initiatives guaranteeing reform and upholding Syria’s role in the face of the Zionist enemy. Feltman might once again move along the Mukhtara track and new Qatari funds might even be offered to the Druze leader. Saudi Arabia might amend its tone towards Jumblatt to lead him back to his hostile position and his involvement in the Syrian events while no one, whether in Lebanon or anywhere around the globe, can guarantee that Jumblatt will not cooperate with these efforts and go back to swinging while awaiting a new summoning or another harsher message from Moscow.

It is likely that Jumblatt is waiting to see what will happen during the next few days and monitor the horizon of the failed settlement in Syria, and will continue swinging on the hill to see the results which might prompt him to ask Hezbollah’s command - once again = to open the mediation lines with the Syrian leadership in the next few months.