Russian stance on Syria irritates Arabs

Syria is back on the top of the Arab agenda Thursday, and diplomatic statements by world leaders are being quoted to push certain political agendas. Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat, apparently attempting to delegitimize the Russians in the eyes of Arab readers, quotes foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warning the world that if Assad falls “the Sunnis will come to power.”

“The Sunnis,” of course, comprise a clear majority not only in Saudi Arabia and Syria, but in the entire Arab world.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat editor Tareq Homayed rushes to condemns the Russians for Lavrov’s inflammatory comment:

“A dangerous statement, indeed a folly, is that conveyed by the Russian foreign ministry by minister Lavrov,” writes Homayed in an editorial Thursday, sarcastically titled “Mullah Lavrov.”

“It is very strange that such a statement should come from a foreign minister, especially if he is Russian. This statement, the folly, did not come from Hassan Nasrallah, or Nuri Al-Maliki [all Shiite Arab leaders]… but from a secular country, which does not normally fall into the sectarian swamp,” writes Homayed.

London-based daily Al-Hayat, on a more optimistic note, begins its coverage by noting that Russia and China have finally supported a strongly-worded UN statement calling on Assad to refrain from sending soldiers into populated areas. This is the first time, notes the daily, that the two countries have agreed to threaten Assad with international action if he does not comply with international law.

But Al-Hayat dedicates a separate article to lambasting Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a report from Moscow, the daily quotes opposition sources as saying Putin is using the Arab Spring as an example of violence in order to delegitimize the planned opposition’s million man rally.

Toulouse standoff widely covered

The standoff between police and the suspected terrorist Mohammed Merah, who is believed to have killed three French soldiers and four Jewish civilians, is widely covered in Arabic media Thursday.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat displays a photo of masked special unit policemen outside Merah’s home, in a short article titled: “Toulouse terrorist to the police: I am only sorry I did not kill more people.”

Al-Hayat, displaying a similar photo, chooses a longer headline: “Suspect in Toulouse attacks entrenched in an apartment, and his surrender only a matter of time.” A-Sharq Al-Awsat calls Merah a “French citizen of Algerian origin,” while Al-Hayat leaves out the “French,” calling him only “originally Algerian.”

Not all rosy in Coptic-Muslim relations

After days of sentimental coverage of Egyptian Pope Shenouda’s burial ceremonies and his legacy in Egypt, the ugly side of the story is beginning to emerge as well. Indeed, most Muslims expressed appreciation to Shenouda’s contribution to Egypt and to the Arab cause, through his opposition to normalization with Israel. But one Islamist spokesman, Wajdi Ghoneim, was recorded saying that Shenouda was the “head of heresy” in Egypt, expressing joy at his death.

Saudi-owned website Elaph reports that Copts in Egypt are furious with Ghoneim, who rather than denying the voice recording attributed to him, said the following:

“When I spoke, I said that this man [Shenouda] called for sectarian strife in Egypt and supported the Mubarak regime, may God place them together. He [Shenouda] supported [Mubarak’s] hereditary rule, and was against the revolution, and did not consider the Christians who died in the revolution martyrs.”

Responding to a police complaint filed against him by Coptic lawyers, Ghoneim said: “That is nonsense. They know I am right.”

Nagib Gibrail, a Coptic lawyer representing the Church in Egypt, accused Ghoneim of slandering the pope and the Christian religion, a criminal offense in Egypt.

Iranian expansionism in Arab periphery

Two separate articles dealing with Iran’s expansion into peripheral Arab countries appear Thursday.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat runs an interview with Yemeni foreign minister Abu Baker Qurbi, who claims that Iran is widely involved in “internal Yemeni affairs.” Qurbi calls on the international superpowers to prevent Iran’s intervention, claiming that it harms the region’s “security and stability.”

The Yemeni minister, speaking at a Gulf conference in Riyadh, said that financial support from richer Arab Gulf countries could go a long way to subdue the Iranian menace in Yemen.

Another country on the fringes of the Arab world, Sudan, is being threatened by Iranian intervention, claims Al-Jazeera columnist Muna Abd Al-Fattah.

“Sudan never presented an American weak point, but despite this Iran counts it among African countries it can draw in to garner support for its nuclear project and break its international isolation. There is nothing easier for Iran than to exploit the feelings of hostility towards America and Israel in the region,” writes Abd Al-Fattah Thursday.