March 29, 2009 | 12:09
pm
One could call it a cold-shoulder war.
With his decision not to show up at the Arab Summit in Doha, Qatar, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak furthered the ongoing mutual hostility between his country and the Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar.
“There won't be any reconciliation between Qatar and Egypt soon,” wrote Ahmed Moussa, a staunch spokesman of Mubarak’s regime, in today’s issue of the semi-official Al Ahram daily. “Egypt sent a message to the Qataris and reduced the level of representation, which shows that Qatar should revise all its positions toward Egypt.”
It was announced Saturday that Mubarak would not attend the summit. But Egypt will be represented by a delegation headed by the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Moufid Shehab.
February 24, 2009 | 9:21
am
A group of friends chatting in a cafe and criticizing politicians is a common scene in many parts of the world.
Not in Syria.
Muhamad al-Husseini, 67, landed in jail for criticizing corruption and “insulting the Syrian president” while sitting at a popular cafe in Damascus.
The supreme state security court sentenced Husseini to three years in jail in 2007 based on reports by security services officials who reportedly overheard him.
Husseini’s case -- and those of 200 more Syrian detainees tried or charged between January 2007 and June 2008 by this special "kangaroo court" that prosecutes individuals seen as a threat to the state -- was the subject of an extensive report issued today by the New-York based Human Rights Watch.
February 18, 2009 | 8:17
am
Damascus has long been accused of waiting out the Bush administration in hopes of getting a better diplomatic atmosphere under a new American presidency. And indeed, since President Obama took over from Bush in January, the tide seems to be turning favorably for Syria.
Two delegations from the U.S. Congress have already visited Syria. Later this week, Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is expected in Damascus.
The U.S. is certainly sending positive messages to the country treated by the previous administration as an associate member of the “axis of evil,” along with such U.S. rivals as Iran and North Korea.
Obama has offered to engage in dialogue with Iran and Syria, breaking from the ways of Bush, who imposed economic sanctions on Damascus accusing it of fostering terrorism in Iraq, Israel and Lebanon.
February 13, 2009 | 7:53
am
They said “I do” and sealed their marriage.
But this time, the wedding ceremony was not blessed by a sheik or a priest in a church or mosque, as is usually the case in Lebanon.
It was performed in a bar.
To protest laws that do not allow for civil or secular marriages to be conducted in their country, a group of Lebanese couples decided to tie the knot in mock civil weddings Thursday evening in Gemmayze, a bustling neighborhood in downtown Beirut.
Other similar ceremonies will continue to be held this weekend.
Activists have been campaigning in vain for years to make civil marriage legal in Lebanon. Although petitions were signed across the country for the right, religious leaders in this small, multi-sectarian country steadfastly oppose the move.
February 12, 2009 | 7:11
am
A new report by a Washington-based think tank recommends that the United States bolster Lebanon’s army to serve as a deterrent force against the country's sometimes aggressive neighbors, Israel and Syria, as well as undermine "non-state actors" in the country, namely Hezbollah.
The report, which was published recently by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, criticized the policy of the U.S. toward the official armed forces in Lebanon as murky and counterproductive:
“U.S. policy towards the [Lebanese Armed Forces] is unclear and hurts U.S. efforts to bolster the LAF as a positive force in Lebanon and the region. These policy ambiguities should be revised and the U.S. must articulate clearly whether or not it will provide the LAF with the heavy combat systems it needs for force development.”
February 6, 2009 | 3:25
am
A number of recent reports and events suggest signs of a rapprochement between the Syria's ruling Baath Party and its biggest political opponent, the Muslim Brotherhood.
A report published recently by Stratfor, a U.S. group that collects and analyzes intelligence from around the world, says that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his party has “a plan in progress to mend ties with” the outlawed Sunni Islamist group.
In a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, the Syrian Baath Party has created an efficient police-run regime, enabling the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, to maintain absolute political control of the country for four decades.
In 1982, the Baathists violently quelled opposition by the Muslim Brotherhood, reportedly killing thousands of people in the Syrian city of Hama. Since then, the political leadership of the Islamist group has been operating mainly from European cities.
February 1, 2009 | 8:57
am
The bickering and divided — some would say dysfunctional — Arab world will attempt to put aside its differences during an international summit in March to raise money for Gaza Strip reconstruction.
Cairo has called the meeting to rebuild the Palestinian enclave that was battered by an estimated $2 billion in damages from the 22-day Israeli incursion against the militant group Hamas.
The fate of Gaza has widened the split in the Arab world between U.S. allies, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and countries and political organizations, including Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon, that are linked to the anti-Western influence of Iran.
Cairo and Riyadh boycotted an emergency summit in Qatar last month, arguing that it threatened Arab unity by further polarizing Middle East politics.
The crux is Hamas.
