The sensationalist comments of Syria's former vice-president were ill-timed and inappropriate, even if true, writes Ibrahim Nafie The foremost Arab states are exerting intense efforts to relieve the increasing pressures on Syria that have exacerbated following statements made by the former Syrian Vice-President Abdul-Halim Khaddam. It appears that Khaddam's offering presented exemplary opportunity to parties striving to cajole Syria for reasons related to the regional situation more than the investigation into the murder of Rafik Al-Hariri. The testimony of Khaddam came at a time when Syria had succeeded, with the help of the primary Arab states, in making progress in confronting attempts to politicise the report of the international investigation committee led by German magistrate Detlev Mehlis. When a new head took on responsibility for the committee, Damascus called for professional considerations to prevail so that the investigation would be a success and ascertain the truth. Syria expressed its full preparation to cooperate completely with the international committee. Yet at the same time it appeared that a new atmosphere of objectivity had begun to prevail in the work of the international investigation committee, Khaddam's statements directed accusations against the Syrian leadership on various levels. Barely a few hours had passed before international and regional powers began to attempt to deal with Khaddam's statements as facts and evidence. International capitals began to move once again and directed threats to Damascus in a manner much repeated during the West-Iraq crisis. Despite the vast differences between the Iraqi and Syrian cases, it is in the interest of international, and perhaps also regional, powers to repeat what happened with Iraq in Syria. I consider this a serious threat to Arab states without exception, and a component of international agendas drawn up in advance to divide and organise the region anew. The assassination of Rafik Al-Hariri and subsequent crimes committed in Lebanon are being used to implement a plan with no relation to the assassination operations and which does not aim to reveal the truth as much as it seeks to target Syria as an Arab country. There is no doubt that its targeting at this moment comes in the wider context of re-organising the entire region in the interest of non-Arab actors. For these reasons, it is extremely important to put forth a clear and defined Arab role in support of Syria on the one hand, while remaining committed to revealing the full truth through the professional work of the international investigation committee on the other. While international pressure on Syria escalated following the statements of Khaddam, likewise escalated Arab activity aimed at lightening this load and seeking a formulation that guarantees responsiveness to the international investigation committee's requests without forsaking Syrian sovereignty. The international investigation committee moved rapidly and requested an investigation of Khaddam's testimony. It rushed to do so, and its haste was an indication of its dealing with Khaddam's statement as truth. It then leaped directly to requesting a meeting with the Syrian president in a form that resembled interrogation, as well as a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Farouk Al-Sharaa. On the other hand, Egypt and Saudi Arabia initiated efforts with the goal of reaching an acceptable formulation that balances between the demands of the committee and Syria's anticipated resistance to those demands in the framework of their clear political considerations and complications surrounding such procedures with any head of state, Arab or otherwise. Thus the quick visit of President Hosni Mubarak to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and his meeting with the Saudi King Abdullah, as well as Mubarak's visit the next day to France and his meeting with President Jacque Chirac. This activity implies that Syria will not be alone in confronting international pressures and that the primary Arab states are acting to reach a formulation that guarantees that the work of the international investigation committee will not be politicised while revealing some of the clandestine dynamics rooted in the region. Khaddam's offering represents a deal in which his homeland was "sold" for the sake of personal interests. Some sources have mentioned that he is now presenting himself to Western states as the next Syrian president following the ousting of the current regime, a fact that poses the question: can the ambition for the presidency of the state of a person who has spent more than 40 years in political posts lead to his selling out the homeland or walking over the corpses of citizens to reach the seat of power? Khaddam's offering, even if for personal considerations -- although it may have been a political and economic deal -- clearly reveals the tragedy of peoples whose circumstances have afflicted them with politicians prepared to sell their souls.
