Muslim Brotherhood stars in Syria and Egypt

The Arab media, following the incremental international isolation of Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday, highlights Turkey’s decision to close its embassy in Damascus as well as a joint Russian-American statement supporting the mission of international envoy Kofi Annan. Developments on the ground in Syria are being pushed aside in favor of the international diplomatic maneuvers.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned daily published in London, seems to be endorcing the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood as a viable opposition to Assad. For the second day in a row, the daily is highlighting the moderate position expressed by the Brotherhood, supporting a “pluralistic democracy” in Syria and allowing women and Christians to take public office.

Al-Jazeera columnist Ghazi Dahman lashes out at Russia’s position on Syria, arguing that it is the Russians who provide Assad the political clout to continue massacring his people.

“The Russian position has encouraged the Assad regime, to a great extent, to proceed in the path of an extremely violent solution,” writes Dahman in a column titled “The dreams of the Russian elite and the nightmares of the Syrian people.”

“[Russia] has supplied him [Assad] with a safety net which protects him from the consequences of his violent behavior.”

A-Sharq Al-Awsat editor Tariq Homayed writes that the Assad regime has turned Syria into a “large prison,” preventing all citizens under the age of 42 from leaving the country.

“We cannot rely on Annan’s mission while killing, bombing, starving and degradation are the daily routine of the Syrian people,” writes Homayed Tuesday. “The reply of the Assad regime to Annan’s plan, or its failure to reply, are all used by Assad to buy time… therefore, the best way to preserve the Syrian entity is to bring about the quick departure of the Damascus tyrant.”

Libya slipping into civil war

The deteriorating security situation in Libya is the second major story in Arab news Tuesday. Armed clashes between two tribal groups in the south of the country are being widely reported by major news outlets.

Dubai-based news channel A-Arabiya reports that 23 men were killed and 71 injured in fighting between the Suleiman and Tibu tribes in the southern city of Sabha.

On Saturday, armed rebels attacked the luxury Rixos hotel in Tripoli, in what Saudi-owned news website Elaph dubs “a blow to the reputation of the Libyan Transitional Council.”

“The Transitional Council has faced widespread criticism since the revolution’s victory for its powerlessness in controlling the militias that broke away since the collapse of the former regime,” writes the website Tuesday. “The Zintan and Misrata tribes are still heavily deployed in the capital. The Zintan fighters have taken control of the airport and the Misrata tribes have taken the seaport.”

Will the Egyptian Brotherhood nominate a presidential candidate?

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt had promised not to nominate a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, but in recent weeks rumors began spreading that it will.

Khairat Shater, deputy head of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, is widely considered the leading candidate for president. But Al-Arabiya reports that family members, and especially his wife, are pressuring him not to take the job. The news site reports, based on interviews with Broterhood sources, that “a big surprise” should be expected on Tuesday, an indication that the movement will in fact nominate a candidate.

On Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood will hold a meeting in which it will decide on the matter, Al-Arabiya reports.

The Brotherhood has become more assertive in Egypt since its landslide parliamentary victory in January. It has been calling for weeks to replace the government of Kamal Ganzouri, and in face of the Supreme Military Council’s intransigence, Brotherhood leaders may organize a million man march, Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera reports.

The military, however, is here to stay, claims Elaph columnist Ahmad Abu-Rteima. In an article titled “Have indications of a military coup begun to emerge?” Abu-Rteima argues that the Egyptian military has displayed no intention of yielding its power.

“After more than a year since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down and the Supreme Military Council took control of state affairs, it has become clear that the this council is strongly thwarting the democratic transition process,” Abu-Rteima writes. “All the concessions made by it during this period were made under pressure from the street, not based on its conviction of transferring power to an elected civilian regime.”