Hariri assassination
The U.S. and Israel have hatched a “satanic” plot against Syria, said Fu’ad Abu-Hijlah in the Palestinian daily Al-Hayat al-Jadidah. The U.N.–sponsored report on the February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri asserts, preposterously, that top Syrian officials were involved. German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, the report’s author, specifically fingers the brother and brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
It’s all a pack of lies, said Umar Jafatali in Syria’s Tishrin. Syria, “more than anyone else,” wants to know the truth about Hariri’s death. Unfortunately, the U.N. report “lacks objectivity and credibility.” There’s no proof anywhere in it, just “groundless accusations, misleading evidence, and distorted statements by dishonest witnesses.” Evidently, Syria will have to carry out its own investigation to counter the ridiculous conspiracy theories the U.N. has invented.
Syria has precious few options, said Abdel-Bari Atwan in the pan-Arab Al-Quds al-Arabi. It could emulate Saddam Hussein and refuse outright to cooperate with the U.N. Then it would face sanctions and international ostracization. None of the Arab leaders who were friends of Assad’s father would stand with him now; they’ve all “accepted an American deal and given up what remained of national dignity to stay in power.” The other choice is to copy Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi—“i.e., succumb to international pressures, which are American, hand over the suspects, dismantle all nuclear and chemical programs, completely cooperate with the American policies and apparatuses, and change the policy of the regime by 180 degrees.” The trouble is, Libya was able to redeem itself by turning over a single intelligence official, the man who masterminded the 1988 bombing of an airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland. Syria, though, would have to give up “all the main players” in its security services. Either way, the result will be utter humiliation at Western hands.
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Assad is getting desperate, said Kuwait’s Al Seyassah in an unsigned article. Frantic with worry, the Syrian leader “has lost nearly 20 pounds” and is taking sleep aids and anti-anxiety medication. Already, he’s been avoiding his accused brother. “When they do meet by mistake, fingers point and arguments flame, as each blames the other for Syria’s impasse.” Sources suggest Assad is willing to sacrifice his brother, his brother-in-law, and anyone else to stay in power. But such a move might not save him. If he hands his relatives over to the U.N., they will surely “testify against him and say that he gave the order to kill Hariri.”
Hafiz al-Barghuthi
Al-Hayat al-Jadidah
