« SYRIA PRESS REVIEW » #31

Arab League report delayed

The press is waiting for the Arab League to release the report of its observers. Each power has its own angle: Qatar, Turkey and France hope the document will be damning and that it will be submitted to the Security Council for its authorization in view of a military intervention. On the contrary, China recommends an extension of the observer mission, while Russia has already indicated it would oppose any Security Council resolution imposing sanctions, verily authorizing the war.

In the military arena, the Syrian national army abandoned the town of Zabadani (near Lebanon) to the rebels.

For the first time in a long time, no particular message can be gleaned from this press review. However, it is far too early to conclude that the White House press service has turned the page on this issue.

The French press (weeklies and television) dedicates its columns largely to the death of Gilles Jacquier. Journalists who were in the same team as him accuse the Syrian government and attack the nun who had helped them obtain the visas, while his direct colleagues of France-Télévision take a more nuanced approach and shun their relations with military intelligence. This indicates that the Department of Defense has taken back the reins of the initiatives it had lost.

• In Le Figaro, Professor Mohammed Ayoob observes that Turkey’s determination to keep its roots in NATO while extending its influence in the Arab world has her vying with Iran. It is this rivalry that would explain Ankara’s policy shift vis-à-vis Damascus.

• After Le Temps (Switzerland), it is the turn of Libération (France) to give a voice to former Arab League observer Anwar Malek, despite the disrepute he has gained in the Arab world.

• In Marianne (France) the commentator and former Israeli ambassador Elie Barnavi affirms that Eastern Christians are doomed to disappear: they hang on to the Syrian dictatorship which protects them, but they will be swept away along with it.

• In Gulf News, Dr. Marwan Kabalan noted that Syria is still far from a civil war as rebel-controlled areas are limited to a few pockets and the entire security system is solidly behind the government. However, he continues, the crisis lays bare the endemic weaknesses of society, including the prevalence of family and faith bonds over those of citizenship.