International envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi presented a pessimistic forecast for Syria in the UN Security Council on Monday, widely reported by Arab media on Tuesday.
Lakhdar Brahimi paints “a bleak picture of Syria,” read articles in Qatar-based channel Al-Jazeera and London-based daily Al-Hayat, whose headline reads, “A bloody winter threatens Syria and warning of torture and hunger.”
A nation that is mobilized by a stupid racist film but not by a series of killing broadcast daily, whose producer has not left a symbol or taboo unharmed…”
Al-Jazeera reports that 1.5 million Syrians are suffering of hunger, displaying horrific footage of widespread destruction in Damascus and Aleppo caused by aerial bombardment.
A diplomat who attended the Security Council meeting with Brahimi tells Al-Hayat that the envoy intends to spend more time in Syria in the coming days, and even intends to open an office in Damascus.
The diplomat added that the UN cannot provide a breakthrough on the Syrian crisis due to Russia’s reticence. The West, therefore, will act on three separate levels: continuing with efforts to isolate Syria diplomatically in the General Assembly; attempting to convince China that its economic interests in the region may be in danger if it continues to support the regime (unlike Russia, which considers Syria its foothold in the Middle East, and won’t budge); and finally — trying to unite the Syrian opposition and making sure it works in coordination.
According to Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat, Bashar Assad told Brahimi that 5,000 foreign fighters are present in Syria, portraying the situation as a foreign conspiracy against him.
A number of columnists bemoan the Arab nation’s neglect to treat the Syrian refugees properly. For Abdul Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the treatment of Syrian refugees is nothing less than ungrateful behavior
Meanwhile, Mulham Al-Droubi, a spokesman for the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, tells the daily that his movement has rejected six Iranian attempts at dialogue using a Turkish intermediary.
“We told them [the Iranians] that we will not meet with them or negotiate with them before they stop supporting Bashar Assad,” Droubi told the daily.
A number of columnists bemoan the Arab nation’s neglect to treat the Syrian refugees properly. For Abdul Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the treatment of Syrian refugees is nothing less than ungrateful behavior.
“The Syrians opened their hearts and homes to all Arab refugees, absorbing refugee children in their schools, treating them in their hospitals as equals, sharing bread with them. Now they face ungratefulness and closed borders, subjected to extortion by unscrupulous politicians, opportunity seekers and war profiteering,” writes Atwan.
“The matter is not accusing one side or another. Before the poisoned bayonets are directed at us, we said with a clear voice: the regime is primarily to blame, but what is important now is to find a way to salvage this people and this country from destruction. This takes precedence over all cries and accusation exchanges.”
Maher Masoud, a Syrian columnist, writes an op-ed in Al-Hayat titled “The Arab carnivals of shame.”
“The blood of the Syrians covering the streets… and their honor that is violated daily, is not a mark of shame on the forehead of the despicable murder alone, but on the forehead of the Arab nation. A nation that is mobilized by a stupid racist film but not by a series of killing broadcast daily, whose producer has not left a symbol or taboo unharmed,” writes Masoud.
14 Jihadists sentenced to death in Egypt
The sentencing to death of 14 Sinai Egyptians for involvement in terrorist acts in Sinai last year is widely covered by Arab news Tuesday. The 14 belonged to a Jihadist movement called “Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad,” while 4 others were sentenced to life in prison and six were acquitted.
According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the harsh sentence demonstrates ”the state’s intention to deal firmly with extremist activity in Sinai.”
According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the harsh sentence demonstrates ‘the state’s intention to deal firmly with extremist activity in Sinai’
Al-Hayat notes that the sentencing coincides with the release from prison of Mustafa Hamza, the head of Gamaa Islamiya, a fundamentalist Islamic group. Hamza was sentenced to death, but the daily claims that his release is political payback by President Mohammed Morsi to his allies in the Islamic right.
Independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that the death sentence was made possible following a religious opinion by Egypt’s Grand Mufti whereby the accused “spread corruption on earth” in the name of Islam.
