Mohamed Mursi, Addis Ababa, Hillary Clinton, Damascus: optimists battle pessimists in the press. Doaa El-Bey and Rasha Saad scan the papers In Al-Quds Al-Arabi Abdel-Bari Atwan described the Tarimsah massacre last week and which left more than 300 people dead as yet another mark of disgrace in the record of the Syrian regime. The Syrian regime, which in a rare confession declared it was behind the attack but justified it by claiming that its forces were behind armed gangs and some elements of the Free Syrian Army in Tarimsah village in Hamah governorate. "This regime claims does not, even if it were true, justify the killing of innocent people in the way we watched on television, some of which are regarded close to the regime," Atwan wrote. Atwan noted that the UN envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan "who is accused by several parties of being partial to the Syrian regime" condemned this massacre in the strongest terms. Atwan quoted Annan as saying that the Syrian forces used heavy weapons, such as artillery, tanks and helicopters, against the village and his shock at the violent fighting and the large number of dead and wounded. "Annan could not possibly level such accusations haphazardly for he enjoys the Syrian regime's trust," Atwan wrote. Atwan wrote that the regime believes that by committing such massacres it can instill horror in the hearts of the Syrian people and force those involved in the uprising to back down, but that it is a complete mistake. "These people have not been intimidated by previous massacres and have continued with their uprising for more than 16 months, consistently and without any hesitation to make sacrifices in blood," Atwan concludes. In the London-based Al-Hayat, Abdullah Iskandar tried to decipher the motives and messages behind the new massacre in Tarimsah at a time when Annan is trying to include the participation of its Iranian ally in reaching a solution and is heading towards its Russian ally within such a framework, as well as at time when the issue is returning to the Security Council. "Most likely the regime seeks to provoke such stances and drive towards escalation on the field and in politics, in order to prevent any possibility of dialogue, whether through Annan or Moscow, not to mention of course its absolute rejection of any discussion of a transitional period," Iskandar wrote. As for the long-term message, Iskandar warns, it involves inflaming the conflict so as to spill over the whole region. The Syrian regime, warns Iskandar, seeks to leave no doubt about the sectarian nature of the struggle "that will drive it to become an indivisible part of a regional conflict; one in which any slip up could turn into a regional war from which Iran and Turkey would not be excluded, not to mention the Arab Gulf states and Jordan." Also in Al-Hayat Mustafa Zein wrote that "ever since it started, Annan's mission in Syria has seemed impossible." In his article 'Annan's failure', Zein pointed that from the beginning no one wanted Annan to succeed, or expected him to achieve an end to the violence and to start the political process, neither the regime nor the opposition, nor even the countries that have agreed to his plan's six points. "The Americans and their allies have interpreted them as a call for Al-Assad to step down and an opportunity to increase pressure on the regime and its Russian and Chinese allies, since they have not yet reached the decision to make use of military force," Zein wrote "The Russians, on the other hand, have found in them a temporary way out, one that would spare them the embarrassment of making use of the veto at the Security Council," Zein added. The success of the (liberal) National Forces Alliance (NFA), led by Mahmoud Jibril against Islamists in the Libyan parliamentary elections was also the focus of Arab pundits. In the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, Adel Al-Toraifi wrote that the results came contrary to expectations but expressed "a popular tendency towards civil rule and unity, away from politicised religious slogans." Also in Asharq Al-Awsat, Ali Ibrahim wrote that Libya offered many surprises. Firstly, the high voter turnout, amounting to 60 per cent of the registered electorate, indicates that ordinary Libyans took the decision to participate in drawing up their own future. Secondly, the electoral process was organised and most polling stations opened despite security tensions, incidents of violence and the territorial and non-territorial disputes that have surfaced in recent months. "In the future, Libya may be viewed as the best example of what has been termed the 'Arab Spring', although the change there was the bloodiest, if we exclude Syria, which is yet to achieve regime change through its popular uprising," Ibrahim notes. Hamad Al-Majid said the possible factors behind the NFA's triumph lies in the charismatic personality of its leader Jibril, whose term as interim prime minister of the Transitional National Council immediately after the revolution served as an early personal campaign drive. "His political efficiency led to him becoming the trusted political face of the Libyan revolution, since the Western world mistrusted its flagrant Islamic roots," Al-Majid wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat. "Along with President Abdel-Jalil, he was able to form an influential connection with the outside world, especially the Western countries whose military intervention contributed to the revolution's outcome and the overthrow of Gaddafi," Al-Majid added. Another reason accounting for the success of Jibril and his alliance, argues Al-Majid, was the fact that he began his campaign immediately after his resignation from government, at a time when the Muslim Brotherhood and the rest of the Islamist factions were busy developing their party infrastructure. "The Islamists in Libya put forward a number of competing parties and individual candidates; completely the opposite approach to Jibril who sought to galvanise different entities into one harmonious alliance," wrote Al-Majid.
