Syrian general downplays Brotherhood’s role in uprising

As demonstrations in Syria spread to Aleppo and Damascus, Arab newspapers begin to examine “the day after” scenarios.

Liberal London-based daily Al-Hayat interviews a high-ranking deserting general in the Syrian army, Mustafa Sheikh, who claims that contrary to rumors the Muslim Brotherhood “have no credit in Syria,” and play an insignificant role in the anti-regime movement.

Sheikh criticizes the fragmentation of the Syrian opposition, which he attributes to the decades-long rule of the Assad clan which crushed all opposition.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned daily published in London, leads its reporting with a statement by Arab League head Nabil Al-Arabi who claims the position of Russia and China on Syria may be changing to support the Arab League initiative which favors intervention in the country.

The daily reports protests in some Damascus neighborhoods including Almaza, Kafr Susa and Abu Rumana. Syrian forces are also heavily deployed around the Iranian Embassy.

Al-Jazeera, a news channel based in Qatar, focuses its coverage solely on developments on the ground, mentioning the Red Cross’s attempt to broker a cease fire in Homs in order to supply the city with humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblat is harshly criticizing Assad’s newest diplomatic maneuver, a proposal to conduct a national referendum on a new Syrian constitution.

“Even the cruelest regimes, from Stalin to Ceaușescu to Saddam Hussein… had more tact [than Assad] and did not organize popular referendums over seas of blood,” Jumblat writes in his party magazine Al-Anbaa.

Putin’s Russia to launch arms race

Wide coverage is being given to the announcement of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin regarding his country’s need for better weapons to head off NATO’s presence in Europe.

Putin is running for president in national elections next month, and Al-Jazeera reports that he is being backed by the Russian Orthodox church.

Al-Hayat reports that Putin, in an article published in the government Rossiiskaya Gazeta, implicitly referred to the Arab Spring as a “quickly changing world,” criticizing countries who want to export democracy as supporting “destructive forces.”

Yemenis go to the polls today

Twelve million Yemenis are expected to participate in national presidential elections today, although there is only one candidate to vote for: Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who served as deputy to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Al-Jazeera reports a state of apprehension and alert for fear of terrorist attacks at polling stations in Yemen. A tribal leader, Sheikh Sadeq Ahmar, is calling for election day to be declared “a day without weapons,” encouraging his tribal compatriots to forgo their arms for one day.

Al-Hayat reports high tension in the south of Yemen, where separatists are calling for civil disobedience on election day. Government forces have arrested some separatist activists in the south yesterday, the daily reports.

Mustafa Numan, a Yemeni politician, writes in an opinion piece titled “February 21, will the Yemenis pass their test?” in A-Sharq Al-Awsat that there are currently three issues on the table of the new Yemeni President: the separatist movement in the south; the Shiite Huthi insurgency in the north; and the question of the political regime to govern Yemen. He argues that a federal system would adequately solve Yemen’s separatist movements.

“National dialogue led by the new president is the proper solution for the Yemeni crisis… on condition that all sectors of Yemeni society participate in it,” writes Numan.

America dissuades Israel from striking Iran

American attempts to dissuade Israel from striking Iran continue to occupy the Arab media.

Quoting primarily from Israeli daily Haaretz, Al-Hayat speculates about Israel’s next move. It says that the United States is deeply worried about the hard-line position of Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Al-Jazeera emphasizes warnings by US General Martin Dempsey and British foreign secretary William Hague against an Israeli strike. Al-Jazeera quotes widely from Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, mentioning a statement by Chief of Staff Benny Ganz that Israel would decide independently on a preemptive strike.

Saudis are number one in mobile phone use

Quoting a new UN report, Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya reports that Saudi Arabia has the highest per-capita rate of cellular phone use in the world.

According to the United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD), every 100 Saudis has 188 mobile phones. The number of users has tripled in Saudi Arabia between 2005 and 2010. On the other hand, Internet use in Saudi Arabia remains relatively low, with only 41 users per 100 citizens. This is less than half the average of most Western European countries.