Rasha Saad uncovers a bigger, regional stain Pundits questioned the reasons behind what they described as Arab silence on the massacres being committed against Syrians by their regime. Jameel Theyabi wrote that in Syria, the fragile government is banning media outlets, selling illusions and killing people in the name of security and reform, yet is suffering only modest international sanctions and condemnation. "Arab countries are silent before the massacres and slaughters targeting civilians," Theyabi charges in an article in the London-based daily Al-Hayat. Sadistic security elements and an army are supporting Bashar Al-Assad's regime, without anyone hearing the voice of the free and proud people, while thugs are responding to monstrous orders and forcing people to flee and weep, Theyabi added. "The Syrian people who are facing tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters with bare chests and peaceful slogans, who are finding no sympathy or support from their artists and journalists and are insisting on their defiance and steadfastness, are unique people who will settle for no less than their freedom, dignity and the fulfilment of their demands regardless of how long this were to take," Theyabi wrote. Ghassan Charbel pointed out that the situation in Syria is of great concern to its neighbouring countries Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. In 'Difficult decisions' Charbel wrote that Syria's drowning in a long and bloody conflict will bring about very high costs, and the explosion of the Syrian map will be catastrophic. "Wise men in the four capitals are still wagering on the less costly alternative, and are expecting from Damascus difficult decisions that turn around the course of events," Charbel wrote in Al-Hayat. In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Tariq Al-Homayed wrote, "The French are astonished and they have a right to be" by the Arab silence towards the Syrian regime's brutal suppression of its own citizens over the past three months. "France and Turkey, the Al-Assad regime's closest allies in the past, have broken there silence, as has the West, whilst the Arabs are still silent," Charbel wrote. Al-Homayed added that Ankara, which was Syria's godparent both in the region and internationally, broke its silence and spoke about Syria's atrocities against women, children and the elderly with more than 4,000 Syrians having now fled to Turkey. The French, according to Al-Homayed, defended Bashar Al-Assad's regime in the past, and marketed it regionally and internationally as well. "Yet here they are today, trying to unite the international community against the Damascus regime in order to put an end to its repressive actions, in which it has used aircraft to kill its citizens," Al-Homayed wrote. Meanwhile, he laments, the Arabs continue to remain silent. "The death toll of innocent Syrians has surpassed 1,000, not to mention the tens of thousands of prisoners and those reported missing, yet the Arabs have not uttered a single word!" Al-Homayed added, asking how the Arabs can rise up against Gaddafi, and call for the international community to take a decisive stand against him, while they do nothing about the Syrian regime. "When will the Arabs do the equivalent for the Syrians, who have no one to protect them except God?" Al-Homayed asked. Also in Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashid described the Syrian regime now as "a sitting duck easy to shoot." Al-Rashid argued that misfortunes from every side are pummelling the regime "in a way that nobody could have imagined." Al-Rashid wrote that the most serious blow is the latest: the fate of this regime is under threat at the international level. The Security Council will begin debating the regime's legitimacy as it drafts a resolution condemning its practices against its own people and denouncing the murders it is committing against peaceful protesters. This blow, Al-Rashid notes, was preceded by another direct one when the European Union approved a number of sanctions against it in the wake of the report of the European human rights organisation. Another blow, Al-Rashid maintains, will come from the IAEA that will file a report against the Syrian regime for violations when building a nuclear reactor that was bombed by Israel. "The regime in Syria is yet to understand that it is suffering from a fast-spreading form of cancer. Despite all its failed violent efforts, it does not yet realise that it cannot rely on security forces and the antiquated use of the media. It has to reconcile with its people. This is its only solution," concluded Al-Rashid. In the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abdel-Bari Atwan focussed on news that Islamic extremists have seized Zanjibar, the capital of Abyan in southern Yemen after expelling government forces. The opposition accused President Saleh of "surrendering" the city to the Islamic extremists -- specifically members of Al-Qaeda -- in a bid to draw the US into involving itself in the conflict. Atwan explained that the danger of the presence of Al-Qaeda in the southern areas of Yemen lies in their proximity to the international shipping routes in the Arabian Sea and to Somalia in particular where the Islamic Al-Shabab organisation is involved in the thriving piracy situation, capturing ships and getting large financial ransoms in return for releasing them. In light of the Yemeni division and the weakness of the central government and the flow of weapons from outside sources, Atwan argues, South Yemen is quickly becoming the main and most important incubator of Al-Qaeda; the branch which is replacing the mother organisation in Afghanistan. According to Atwan, it is very close to the main source of wealth in the Arabian Peninsula -- the Gulf and Saudi Arabia -- something that may help it revive its finances which have been intercepted and cut off by the US administration and its security services through strong pressure employed on the governments of these countries to monitor the movement of funds between banks and other payment means. "Whether President Ali Abdullah Saleh wanted to mix the cards and use the scarecrow of Al-Qaeda to call for US help, the organisation is present in Yemen and is regrouping, and any US interference may serve its interests more than those of President Saleh," Atwan wrote.
