Syrian army on the verge of collapse, says defecting general

The Syrian government onslaught on the northern city of Aleppo Saturday is leading the headlines of Arab media Sunday.

“Thousands of refugees from Aleppo; and international calls to rescue the city,” reads the headline of Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat. The daily reports that attack helicopters and airplanes flew above the city as artillery bombarded neighborhoods controlled by the Free Syrian Army.

In a second article, a recently defected Syrian Army general tells the Guardian (translated to Arabic for A-Sharq Al-Awsat) that the army is about to collapse due to lack of food and fuel. Muhammad Zoabi says that Assad’s army has almost run out of missiles and “has no bread and water.”

“Helicopters participate in the bombardment of Aleppo and mass flight of residents,” reads the headline of London-based daily Al-Hayat, reporting that the Salah A-Din neighborhood received the brunt of the attack, having been taken over by the opposition Free Syrian Army.

“The Syrian army assembles its forces and bombards Aleppo with machine guns and helicopters,” reads the headline of London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi. The daily reports that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have set-up a secret base in the Turkish province of Adana, near the Syrian border, to arm the opposition.

Abd Al-Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of the daily, writes that Aleppo’s strategic location means that both the regime and the opposition will wage a bloody battle to capture it.

‘If military intervention takes place … it will not be to put an end to the suffering of Syrians but to safeguard Western interests and neighboring allied countries, including — most definitely — Israel.’

“The interest in Aleppo doesn’t stem from the fact that it is the economic and commercial capital of Syria … but because it is the strategic key to Syria, just as it is the gateway to Turkey. Whoever controls it can achieve a major strategic victory, enabling conquest of the capital Damascus (in the case of the opposition), or maintaining control over it and perhaps over all of Syria (in the case of the regime).”

Atwan warns of a fragmentation of Syria in the event of foreign intervention, like what happened in Libya following NATO’s air campaign against Muammar Gaddafi.

“If military intervention takes place … it will not be to put an end to the suffering of Syrians but to safeguard Western interests and neighboring allied countries, including — most definitely — Israel.”

Taking the exact opposite position, A-Sharq Al-Awsat editor-in-chief Tareq Homayed argues in an editorial Sunday that Syria “will not become Iraq,” in case of military intervention.

‘In short, the Americans want to correct their mistakes in Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere through another mistake in Syria. But as the saying goes, two wrongs don’t make a right.’

Homayed attacks two recent American editorials, by Thomas Friedman and David Ignatius, proving how different Syria is from Iraq.

“Protecting the Syrians should be the priority, by arming them, and not through American military intervention, as Friedman claims,” writes Homayed.

“In short, the Americans want to correct their mistakes in Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere through another mistake in Syria. But as the saying goes, two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Egyptian PM to announce government Thursday

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil will announce his new government this coming Thursday, Egyptian dailies report Sunday.

Kandil has met some 40 Egyptian officials over the past few days, and will present his choice to President Mohammed Morsi, A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports.

Independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that interior minister Muhammad Ibrahim will maintain his post.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party has complained of unfair media coverage of Morsi, establishment daily Al-Ahram reports.

Hassan Barnas, a member of Freedom and Justice, told the daily that official Egyptian media negatively covered Morsi’s recent meetings with the Italian foreign minister and with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Barnas said that such negative coverage made Egyptians lose faith in mainstream Egyptian media.