« SYRIA PRESS REVIEW » #59

Negotiating peace or al-Assad’s departure?

The diplomatic efforts of U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan, on the one hand, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on the other hand, are running into the blatant bad faith of Qatar, France and their protégés.

Mr. Annan could not initiate mediation between the Syrian National Council and the Syrian presidency because the SNC demands that President Bashar al-Assad’s should first resign and be replaced by his Vice President. In any event, Kofi Annan was able to meet and speak at length with President al-Assad. The president laid emphasis on the fact that no effort will be successful as long as armed groups continue to foment chaos in the country. On his part, he declared himself open to any constructive proposal. According to the Gulf-based press, Kofi Annan has suffered a setback since he failed to convince al-Assad to resign, but that goal is not part of his mandate.

Lavrov met with his counterparts from the Arab League in Cairo. They agreed on five general principles to achieve a peaceful settlement in Syria, which they presented at a joint press conference (see below). However, as soon as Sergey Lavrov’s back was turned, Qatari Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim convened a second press briefing in which he falsely affirmed that by accepting a reference to Arab League documents, Russia had endorsed the principle of Bashar al-Assad’s forced departure, which Russia in reality regards as unacceptable meddling into Syria’s internal affairs.

The five general principles for the settlement of the Syrian crisis:
– end violence from all sides,
– introduce an impartial monitoring mechanism
– prevent external interference
– provide for unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to all Syrians
– support the peace-making mission of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to initiate dialogue between the government and all opposition groups as defined by the terms of reference approved by the Secretary General of the Arab League.

• The Independent on Sunday published a statement from the editor: "Enough is enough!." While affirming its support for the operation in Libya, The Independent points to the costly failure of British troops deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq. It calls for the cessation of doubtful military adventures and takes a strong stand against involvement in Syria.

• The Washington Post takes stock of the conflicting views and military options available to the United States in Syria. It concludes that the effort should be limited to providing intelligence and telecommunication facilities to the rebels.

• Tariq Alhomayed, editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, discusses in The Arab Times the press conference of the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs in Cairo. Based on such lies, his conclusion is that the Russians are organizing a departure of President Bashar el-Assad similar to that of Yemen’s President Saleh.

• Egyptian analyst Mostafa Abdulmonen, who writes in the daily Al-Madina, reviews the position of the U.S. in the Saudi Gazette. According to him, since September 11, Washington’s policy in the Middle East has been framed on the basis of three principles: security of oil supply, security of Israel, control of the leaders of political Islam (therefore, it was not a question of fighting against al-Qaeda, but to control its leadership). The overthrow of the ultra secular President al-Assad would thus make sense in the context of weakening Iran’s Islamic leadership.

Photo of the day

Relayed by the media worldwide, this SANA shot shows al-Assad receiving Kofi Annan. In principle, the U.N.-Arab League envoy only came to assess the Syrian position, but here Annan is speaking as if he were formulating proposals. The Syrian President looks attentive, but on his guard. Photography is being used by the Atlanticist and Gulf media to infer that Bashar Assad is implacable.