SYRIA: Avoiding an Arab League fiasco
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Once again, Syria is proving to be the ‘black sheep’ of the Arab world.
After years of waiting, it’s finally Damascus’ turn to shine as host of the annual Arab League Summit. But now come worries that Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt and Jordan, might ruin the party.
The so-called ‘moderate Arab states,’ backed by the U.S., want to punish Syria for trying to regain control over its smaller neighbor, Lebanon. For the past three months, Saudis have blamed Syrians for repeatedly blocking the election of a Lebanese president.
(Actually, both Saudi Arabia and Syria pull the strings of their proteges in Lebanon. On one side, Saudis back the Sunni-controlled government, and on the other, Syrians stand by Hezbollah-led opposition. So far, in their struggle for power, none of the two feuding parties has been ready to give in.)
Lately, Arab media has been teeming with speculation over the fate of the summit, which is scheduled for late March. Some talked first about putting off the meeting altogether until Lebanon’s crisis is resolved. Others say that Saudis and Jordanians will snub the Syrians by sending lower ranking officials instead of their kings.
Damascus, on the other hand, insists that the show will go on, regardless of who shows up. And Syrian officials say that the focus should be the Palestinian issue after the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza.
In any case, Arab foreign ministers are holding a preparatory meeting this week in Cairo. They will supposedly try to save the summit in Damascus from turning into a fiasco.
Another issue will be Lebanon’s presence at the summit. It has not yet received an official invitation to the Arab event. And even if it does, who will represent it in the absence of a Lebanese head of state, the minister of tourism?
Whatever the outcome, this sort of squabbling between Arab monarchs, tyrants and presidents strikes ordinary folks as something out of an entertaining episode of ‘Dynasty.’ Many people in the Arab world long ago gave up on the idea that an Arab League summit would solve any of the region’s myriad troubles.
— Raed Rafei in Beirut