Syria back on the diplomatic table

Renewed diplomatic efforts to pressure Syria into stopping the violence against civilians are highlighted in Tuesday’s Arabic newspapers.

The headline of A-Sharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned daily published in London, reads, “Diplomatic movement, and Saudi Arabic calls for a return to the Security Council.” The photo accompanying the article features demonstrators in Homs carrying a sign that reads, “Those that didn’t save us do not represent us.”

Al-Hayat, a liberal daily published in London, leads with a summit between the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who met to discuss the situation in Syria.

“The Syrian people do not want the regime. The Syrian regime insists on remaining in power by force,” the Saudi foreign minister tells the daily, supporting a call to arm the Syrian opposition in “self defense.”

Meanwhile, hard-line daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports that Syria has decided to retract its ambassador in London in reaction to the United Kingdom’s decision to call back its ambassador in Damascus.

Both leading Arab news channels, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya and Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, are reporting that patients in Homs are being abused by their hospital doctors. The reports are based on a British TV news piece aired Monday on Channel 4, which reported abuse that included electric shocks and lashings.

Tareq Humeid, editor of A-Sharq Al-Awsat, places the blame for the violence in Syria squarely on Iran. In an editorial titled “Are the Syrians a victim of Iran once more?” Humeid argues that Syrian civilians are being used and abused by the Iranian regime for political purposes.

“Syria was, and continues to be, a victim of Iran,” writes Humeid Tuesday. “Both Assad the father and Assad the son have turned Damascus into a playing card in the Iranian game in the region.”

Ghassan Cherbel, editor of Al-Hayat, claims in an editorial titled “Hezbollah in a changing world” that the Lebanese Shiite party is growing increasingly weak with the collapse of its main patron, the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad.

“It is natural for the party to be nervous and agitated these days,” writes Cherbel.

Outspoken Sheikh Qaradawi annoys another state

A high-profile clash is unfolding between a leading Qatar-based cleric, Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi, and the United Arab Emirates. This week Qaradawi accused the Emirates of deporting Syrians from the country for participating in demonstrations near the Syrian consulate. Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan is lashing out at Qaradawi, telling Al-Quds Al-Arabi that he will soon issue an warrant for the elderly cleric’s arrest, no less.

“Whoever curses the Emirates as a country or a government, describing it in the ugliest terms, I will bring him to justice,” promises Khalfan.

Sheikh Qaradawi has recently contradicted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s call on Arabs and Muslims to visit Jerusalem and assert its Islamic identity. Qaradawi, who renewed a ban on non-Palestinians visiting the holy city, ignited a verbal row with the Palestinian minister of endowments, Mahmoud Habbash.

Salafist Egyptian politician resigns over a nose job

A Salafist Egyptian politician  was forced to resign after lying about a nose job he underwent, Arab media are reporting Tuesday. Anwar Balkimi, a member of parliament for the Nour party, entered the hospital after telling the public he had been the victim of an armed attack. But it was later revealed that he had simply undergone a cosmetic nose operation, which is banned under stringent interpretation of Islamic law. The story, which made the front pages of Al-Hayat and A-Sharq Al-Awsat, is barely being reported in the Egyptian media.

Putin victory makes headlines in the Arab press

The electoral victory of Russian President Vladimir Putin is making front-page headlines in the Arab media. Al-Hayat tells of the renewal of opposition following the results of the elections, including the arrest of 100 protesters. A-Sharq Al-Awsat opens with European condemnation of the election results, quoting references by European Union foreign policy head Catherine Ashton to suspicions of election fraud by Putin.

Meanwhile, Al-Quds Al-Arabi’s editorial reveals high hopes for a Russian leadership role in bringing about a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis. This weekend, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to come to Egypt to discuss the situation in Syria.

“The Arab League made a big mistake by ignoring the two most powerful  non-Western states in the Security Council, China and Russia, placing all its eggs in the basket of the United States in an attempt to issue a decision internationalizing the Syrian crisis,” reads the editorial.