Gamal Nkrumah shows the concern of writers that the violence in Syria is spreading to cities previously pro-government This is stern stuff. The Syrian army is venting its vengeance in an unprecedented manner on the people of the cities of Idlib, Homs and Hama. The violence is spreading to other Syrian cities previously pro-government or at least not very sympathetic to the cause of the anti-government forces such as Aleppo and Damascus. The Syrian government mouthpiece, the daily Al-Thawra, impassionately defended the regime's position. Khalaf Al-Muftah writing in Al-Thawra highlighted the political tenacity of the Syrian government. "In spite of the dramatic changes in the international arena in the past three decades and the impact these changes have had on the re-drawing of the political map of the region... Syria's foreign and domestic policies have continued to hold on to all its cards intact and to condition itself to the new realities. It reconsiders its priorities by forging new friendships and strengthening cordial relations with old friendly nations." The international community is shocked and so are the majority of Arab commentators by the killings in Syria. In recent weeks the escalation of intense fighting in Syria has become the primary topic of discussion in the Arab media. Most pundits insist that there is no alternative to peaceful resistance. The Syrian writer Wael Al-Sawwah and his compatriot Nart Abdel-Karim stressed the non-violent strategy towards democratisation and political reform. The front-page headline of the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat focussed on the arrest and detention in Mauritania of Abdullah Al-Senousi, "Gaddafi's Butcher". The paper demanded justice and demanded that Al-Senousi be brought to book. The phrase is resonant. It inspired others to follow suit. Editor-in-Chief of Al-Hayat Ghassan Charbel in a poignant piece pointed out that "he who wields the whip must now be allowed to tell his tale. He obeyed the orders of his master and brother-in-law [the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi]�ê� his duty was simply to rubbish the rats." Charbel recalled how in 1996 Islamist prisoners protested his cruelty and the conditions of their incarceration in the notorious Abu-Selim Prison. "He [Al-Senousi] proposed the final solution�ê� he ordered the prisoners to assemble in the grounds of the prison and murdered them without mercy with artillery gunfire. He thought in vain that the petroleum found in abundance in the depths of the Libyan desert would cover up his crimes�ê� Al-Senousi was dispatched to Benghazi to entrap and thrash the rats�ê� but that was not to be," Charbel summed up. However, like the rest of the Arab media the main opinion pieces and commentaries spotlighted Syria. A few commentaries, nevertheless, examined the Syrian crisis in the broader context of the Arab Spring and the implications thereof. 'What does Islam and Arab nationalism expect of the Arab Spring?' was the provocative title of the Saudi Arabian academician and writer Khaled Al-Dakheil. "The ousted Arab regimes vied with each other to vilify and denigrate fellow Arab dictators. They competed to trade insults and failed abjectly in containing the Zionist threat emanating from Israel�ê� the pan-Arabism of the 1960s was closely connected with tribalism and clan politics, oppression, nepotism and corruption�ê� Do we really need to uphold such a mediocre example of pan-Arabism?" Al-Dakheil concluded. The Arab Spring cannot ignore the will of the Syrian people, most commentators contended. The London-based pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat front-page headline highlighted the bombardments that shook Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, and the hooligans, shabiha in the Syrian Arabic dialect, who repress the protesters in Damascus. The Syrian writer Abdel-Wahed Al-Alwani noted in Asharq Al-Awsat that the voice of minorities such as the Kurds in Syria must be listened to intently. In an article entitled 'What about the Kurdish situation in Syria' Al-Alwani asserted that the Kurds were the first to protest against the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, that the writer contends was in 2004. "The Syrian authorities dealt with them harshly�ê� However, the oppression of the Kurdish people in Syria goes back much further. The culminating point of the oppression of Syria's Kurds occurred in 1962 when following a census of the Syrian population that denied tens of thousands of Kurds Syrian citizenship and nationality and they became foreigners in their own country." Meanwhile, also concerning the Kurdish question but in neighbouring Iraq, the deputy of the Kurdistan region in Iraq tells Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq will disintegrate into three regions -- one Sunni Muslim, the other Shia Muslim and the third Kurdish. Kusert Rasoul, deputy secretary-general of the National Kurdish Union headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, warned that Iraq is bound to disintegrate into three states based on sectarian and ethnic affiliations. Rasoul did not deny that there were "conflicts and rivalries in the union as in any other political party and competition for positions and advantage." "I have always and still do support Barham Saleh and in all our meetings and congresses I insist on standing by him for the sake of our province [Kurdistan]. I supported Saleh -- the secretary-general of the union -- for the past 20 years�ê� because he has great popularity among the Kurdish people of Iraq and he has visionary principles and ideals." Two op-eds in Asharq Al-Awsat highlighted the Syrian political crisis. One written by Atallah Mahagrani entitled 'Another year into the Syrian revolution' purported that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad is still fighting to hold on to power. More than 8,000 Syrians have died and 20,000 detained and thousands have left the country and fled into exile�ê� "What is the real cost of holding tenaciously to power?" Mahagrani pointed out that the abject failure of the international community to come to the support of the Syrian people renewed the resolve of the people of Syria to overthrow the dictatorship of the Al-Assad regime. "It seems that Bashar Al-Assad wants to change Syria after it is ruined�ê� Syrians watch helplessly as their homes are destroyed�ê� is that the price of the First Lady's shoes?" In the other commentary entitled 'The Syrian opposition�ê� one revolutionary year on' Akram Al-Bunni notes that "this is not the right time to critique the Syrian opposition forces." Al-Bunni concludes that it is high time that the Syrian opposition indulge in introspection and examine its motives and priorities with seriousness and truthfulness. The Syrian opposition forces must see what propels them forward and see how to improve their effectiveness." In a commentary entitled 'Israel and the defence of Al-Assad' Hussein Al-Shabkashi in Asharq Al-Awsat observes that "even Israel with all its might and international influence cannot stop the regime of Al-Assad from falling." Al-Shabkashi insists Israel has a vested interest in propping up the regime of Al-Assad in spite of the propaganda by the ruling Baath regime in Damascus. "How else do we explain the eerie silence of Israel as Iranian warships pass by its territorial waters to dock in the Syrian port of Tartous? Why did Israel vehemently oppose the Turkish humanitarian ships to Gaza not so long ago but now permits Iranian warships dispatched by Tehran to assist Al-Assad to land in Syria with impunity? These are pertinent questions that must be answered."
