As Syria bleeds, Baghdad launches a sad summit

The Arab summit which opens today in Baghdad is getting mixed reviews in the Arab press. While some see it as a victory for Iraq and for Arab states in the revolutionary era, others regard it with disdain, noting that it only highlights the country’s instability.

Just 9 points will be put to a vote later today, as the summit comes to a close. At the top of the agenda, notes Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al-Awsat, will be the decision on Syria, which will include an endorsement of the mission of international envoy Kofi Annan. Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari is quoted as saying that this will be “Syria’s last chance.”

Liberal daily Al-Hayat, in an article titled “The ‘Baghdad declaration’ will commend the changes of the Arab Spring” features the empty half of the cup: it displays a photograph of Syria’s empty seat in Baghdad. Syria was officially removed from the Arab League, and declared that it does not care about any resolution issued concerning it.

Al-Hayat editor Ghassan Cherbel is pleased with the low-profile meeting in Baghdad. He claims that Arabs are sick and tired of the pomp of the past.

“The absence of the historic leader is enjoyable and good. The Arab people have suffered enough from historic leaders who ruled supreme through tank chains or the shackles of the one party,” writes Cherbel.

“The Arab does not demand the Baghdad conference to be historic. He does not demand it to be ‘a turning point in joint Arab work.’ We are sick of turning points. The Arab is proud that the conference expresses the continued need of Arabs in periodic meetings under one roof. The meeting asserts their continued ability to meet, regardless of the level of representation or the level of decisions.”

But columnist Hicham Munawar, writing for Saudi-owned news website Elaph, thinks it may have been a bad idea to hold the summit in Baghdad under the current circumstances.

“Is it necessary to hold the conference in an Arab country that has left the sphere of Western political and military hegemony and suffers internal crises and pitfalls? Which holds political positions toward the Arab mobilization that could thwart the meeting and stunt the outcome?” writes Munawar.

The killing continues in Syria

Despite the media focus on Baghdad, the continued killing in Syria is still being widely covered. Just one day after Syria accepted Annan‘s six points — one of which included an immediate cessation of violence — dozens of Syrian civilians are still dying. 

The Syrian coordination councils, an opposition group, tell Al-Hayat that unidentified bodies lie in the streets of Saraqib in northern Syria after four days of shelling. Syrian army soldiers are reportedly pillaging homes and shops before setting them on fire and evicting families from their homes.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat leads Thursday’s news with an Iranian warning against foreign intervention in Syria. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also proposes Iran as a mediator between Syria and the world.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat edtior Tariq Homayed once again belittles the prospects of diplomacy with Syria, calling for active arming of local rebels.

“We must not be dragged time and again by the games of the Assad regime,” writes Homayed. “We must begin arming the rebels through the proper channels which know the land and the leaders. We must not wait any more, since every day that passes means the killing of more innocent Syrians by the Assad forces.” 

Al-Arabiya manager Abd Al-Rahman Rashed comments on Assad’s visit to the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr on the very day that the Syrian opposition convened in Istanbul.

“This was no coincidence. Assad chose the timing of his visit on purpose to coincide with the opposition meeting. He wanted to tell them and the world that Baba Amr is his answer to the popular revolt and the ongoing intifada against his rule since early last year.”

Egypt’s constitutional crisis deepens

Egypt is sinking deeper into political turmoil as leftists and Islamists clash surrounding the identity of the constitutional assembly.

Hossein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, is set to meet with the heads of Egypt’s political parties today in what Al-Hayat defines a “crucial” meeting. Meanwhile, left-wing activists took to the streets of Cairo yesterday to demonstrate what they argue is an Islamist takeover of Egypt’s new constitution.

“The constitution is in need of social accord, of participation and not arm twisting,” writes Abd Al-Muhsin Salamah in the establishment daily Al-Ahram Thursday. “Otherwise, everyone will lose if the constitution draft becomes a battle of winners and losers.”