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BASHAR AL-ASSAD STILL BEATS TURKEY AND GULF STATES
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 30, 2012
The most interesting thing in Annan's plan is that it does not call
for Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
Syria has agreed to the plan of peaceful settlement of the situation
suggested by UN special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan and supported by the
UN Security Council. The peace plan developed with the participation
of Russia and the League of Arab States (LAS), suggests an end to
violence on both sides, non-interference in the affairs of Syria from
outside, access by humanitarian organizations into the country and
establishment of a monitoring mechanism.
PanARMENIAN.Net - Let us recall that earlier Syrian authorities had
agreed also to other peace initiatives, but the rebels opposing to
President al-Assad treated the agreements skeptically. Opposition
principally demands that Bashar al-Assad resign from the post of the
Syrian president. All sorts of peace plans the opponents of the regime
agree to discuss only after the fulfillment of this precondition.
Her contribution to the failure of these arrangements made also U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, accusing al-Assad of
"over-promising and under-delivering." "If he is ready to bring
this dark chapter in Syria's history to a close he can prove it by
immediately ordering regime forces to stop firing and begin withdrawing
from populated areas," added the head of the U.S.
Department of State. Similar statements were made also by other Western
countries. Earlier, the UN reported that more than 9000 people had
been killed since the protests began last March. However, as already
reported, the UN data are based only on information received from
the opposition, and therefore cannot be considered absolutely reliable.
Hillary Clinton also stated that Bashar al-Assad must begin preparing
for a democratic transfer of power. She also called on opposition
groups to, "Come forward with a unified position, a vision of the kind
of Syria they are wishing to build". But the opposition has no unified
position - the only thing that brings them together is the hatred for
Assad and the desire to establish Islamic laws in Syria. However, most
opposition groups that recently participated in the Istanbul meeting
finally agreed to unite behind the Syrian National Council (SNC),
the main Opposition group, which would be the "formal interlocutor
and formal representative of the Syrian people". But Syrian people
themselves are definitely not ready to be represented by Islamic
militants from "Al Qaeda" and "Muslim Brotherhood". These are the
basic kernel of the rebels, no matter what the UN, U.S. and Arab
League say. The Istanbul meeting also revealed the disagreement
within the Syrian opposition: representatives of different groups
were constantly arguing with each other and leaving the meeting room
in token of protest.
The most interesting thing in Annan's plan is that it does not call
for Bashar al-Assad to leave power. The plan was presented to Moscow
and Beijing, which support Syria. According to BBC, Annan's six-point
peace plan includes: 1. Syrian-led political process to address the
aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people, 2. UN-supervised
cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to
protect civilians, 3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian
assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a
daily two-hour humanitarian pause, 4. Authorities to intensify the
pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, 5.
Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for
journalists, 6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and
the right to demonstrate peacefully.
In fact, Annan "did not fulfill" what he was expected to by Arab
countries: the Syrian president won't resign. Neither was he going to.
But the important thing about all this is that oil monarchies of the
Gulf together with Turkey were left with nothing, and it is good not
only for Syria and Iran, but also for the Middle East.
The second "Friends of Syria" conference due in Istanbul on April 2,
once again without Russia and China, is doomed to failure. As for
the LAS summit in Baghdad, it opened with a strong explosion in the
city center. The summit, entirely devoted to the discussion of Syrian
events, was opened despite the explosion. Among participants of the
forum were nine heads of state, including Kuwait's emir, who was on
the first visit to Iraq since 1990, when Saddam Hussein's troops
invaded his country. The summit was also attended by UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon.
Last time Iraq hosted the Arab League summit in 1990, just months
before the invasion of Saddam Hussein into Kuwait. In addition, this
has been the first summit of the League since the "Arab spring" that
swept the region last year. The forum is taking place against the
background of the conflict in Syria, which seems to never end. The
main meeting of the Arab country leaders is scheduled for Thursday.
Although experts believe that the participants will hardly be
throwing plates at each other, as it was at the previous summit in
Iraq, some tension still exists. This summit is also remarkable from
the religious point of view. Shiites dominate in the current Iraqi
leadership, while the leaders of other member states are Sunni. At
the same time Iraq is experiencing a period of sectarian strife,
which is manifested in its domestic policy - the Sunnis complain that
they have no place in the Maliki government.
Meanwhile, last week there were several explosions in Iraq, which
were to demonstrate instability of the current government. The
responsibility for them was taken by Islamic militants. Iraqi
authorities brought out tens of thousands of security forces to the
streets to prevent violence during the summit.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 30, 2012
The most interesting thing in Annan's plan is that it does not call
for Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
Syria has agreed to the plan of peaceful settlement of the situation
suggested by UN special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan and supported by the
UN Security Council. The peace plan developed with the participation
of Russia and the League of Arab States (LAS), suggests an end to
violence on both sides, non-interference in the affairs of Syria from
outside, access by humanitarian organizations into the country and
establishment of a monitoring mechanism.
PanARMENIAN.Net - Let us recall that earlier Syrian authorities had
agreed also to other peace initiatives, but the rebels opposing to
President al-Assad treated the agreements skeptically. Opposition
principally demands that Bashar al-Assad resign from the post of the
Syrian president. All sorts of peace plans the opponents of the regime
agree to discuss only after the fulfillment of this precondition.
Her contribution to the failure of these arrangements made also U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, accusing al-Assad of
"over-promising and under-delivering." "If he is ready to bring
this dark chapter in Syria's history to a close he can prove it by
immediately ordering regime forces to stop firing and begin withdrawing
from populated areas," added the head of the U.S.
Department of State. Similar statements were made also by other Western
countries. Earlier, the UN reported that more than 9000 people had
been killed since the protests began last March. However, as already
reported, the UN data are based only on information received from
the opposition, and therefore cannot be considered absolutely reliable.
Hillary Clinton also stated that Bashar al-Assad must begin preparing
for a democratic transfer of power. She also called on opposition
groups to, "Come forward with a unified position, a vision of the kind
of Syria they are wishing to build". But the opposition has no unified
position - the only thing that brings them together is the hatred for
Assad and the desire to establish Islamic laws in Syria. However, most
opposition groups that recently participated in the Istanbul meeting
finally agreed to unite behind the Syrian National Council (SNC),
the main Opposition group, which would be the "formal interlocutor
and formal representative of the Syrian people". But Syrian people
themselves are definitely not ready to be represented by Islamic
militants from "Al Qaeda" and "Muslim Brotherhood". These are the
basic kernel of the rebels, no matter what the UN, U.S. and Arab
League say. The Istanbul meeting also revealed the disagreement
within the Syrian opposition: representatives of different groups
were constantly arguing with each other and leaving the meeting room
in token of protest.
The most interesting thing in Annan's plan is that it does not call
for Bashar al-Assad to leave power. The plan was presented to Moscow
and Beijing, which support Syria. According to BBC, Annan's six-point
peace plan includes: 1. Syrian-led political process to address the
aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people, 2. UN-supervised
cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to
protect civilians, 3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian
assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a
daily two-hour humanitarian pause, 4. Authorities to intensify the
pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, 5.
Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for
journalists, 6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and
the right to demonstrate peacefully.
In fact, Annan "did not fulfill" what he was expected to by Arab
countries: the Syrian president won't resign. Neither was he going to.
But the important thing about all this is that oil monarchies of the
Gulf together with Turkey were left with nothing, and it is good not
only for Syria and Iran, but also for the Middle East.
The second "Friends of Syria" conference due in Istanbul on April 2,
once again without Russia and China, is doomed to failure. As for
the LAS summit in Baghdad, it opened with a strong explosion in the
city center. The summit, entirely devoted to the discussion of Syrian
events, was opened despite the explosion. Among participants of the
forum were nine heads of state, including Kuwait's emir, who was on
the first visit to Iraq since 1990, when Saddam Hussein's troops
invaded his country. The summit was also attended by UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon.
Last time Iraq hosted the Arab League summit in 1990, just months
before the invasion of Saddam Hussein into Kuwait. In addition, this
has been the first summit of the League since the "Arab spring" that
swept the region last year. The forum is taking place against the
background of the conflict in Syria, which seems to never end. The
main meeting of the Arab country leaders is scheduled for Thursday.
Although experts believe that the participants will hardly be
throwing plates at each other, as it was at the previous summit in
Iraq, some tension still exists. This summit is also remarkable from
the religious point of view. Shiites dominate in the current Iraqi
leadership, while the leaders of other member states are Sunni. At
the same time Iraq is experiencing a period of sectarian strife,
which is manifested in its domestic policy - the Sunnis complain that
they have no place in the Maliki government.
Meanwhile, last week there were several explosions in Iraq, which
were to demonstrate instability of the current government. The
responsibility for them was taken by Islamic militants. Iraqi
authorities brought out tens of thousands of security forces to the
streets to prevent violence during the summit.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress