Syria, Lebanon and Annan caught in vicious circle

Lebanese Army patrol in Tripoli (Naharnet photo)

At least 62 people were killed or injured in Lebanon’s “hostage city of Tripoli” on the day Kofi Annan was forewarning of the Syria crisis “regional spillover.”

The independent Beirut daily an-Nahar says, “12 people were killed in Tripoli and at least 50 injured, most of them by sniper gunfire.”

The fighting across the Syrian border in northern Lebanon’s seaport city is between pro-Assad militiamen in the predominantly Alawite stronghold of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tebbaneh, an overwhelmingly Sunnite and anti-Assad area.

The split in Tripoli mirrors the divisions in Syria, where the Sunnite majority is leading the 15-month-old uprising, while Alawites and other minority groups are generally supporting President Bashar al-Assad

An-Nahar says Lebanese Army units and Internal Security Forces are struggling to deploy in the two areas.

It quotes unnamed sources as saying the city has become “a regional pawn.” Syria and its allies are manipulating the pawn through exploitation of a “security hotbed,” which is Jabal Mohsen, to pressure Lebanese, Arab and regional parties. Repeated talk in Jabal Mohsen about inviting the Syrian army back to Lebanon clearly identifies the regional side seeking to revive civil strife in Tripoli and destabilize the country.

A counterpunch comes from Jabal Mohsen chieftain Rifaat Eid, who tells the Beirut daily ad-Diyar there are “no Syrian refugees” in Lebanon, simply “Syrian terrorists” and that “the military arm of the Future Movement,” which opposes Assad, is now under the command of the Free Syrian Army.

Also on Saturday, Syria troubleshooter Annan warned of the growing sectarian violence in Syria, saying the conflict is already having serious consequences in the region and calling on the international community to work together to push for the implementation of his six-point peace plan.

"The specter of all-out civil war, with a worrying sectarian dimension, grows by the day," Annan told the Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria in Doha. "The crisis is having regional spillover, in the form of tensions and incidents across the border, abductions of nationals and foreigners, and refugee flows to neighboring states."

Annan in Doha (Photo from dailylife.com)

Annan stressed that during his meeting with Assad in Damascus earlier this week, he urged him to act immediately to implement the six-point plan, and to honor his commitment to withdraw heavy weapons from populated areas and cease all violence.

"The situation is complex, and it takes everyone involved in the crisis to act responsibly if the violence is to stop. But the first responsibility lies with the Syrian Government, and with President Assad," Annan said.  "He must release detainees, fully open up to international humanitarian assistance, and allow people to express their views freely in peaceful protest. This is essential to demonstrate his seriousness to the Syrian people and the international community."

Annan emphasized the importance of the international community acting in unity to be able to put pressure on Damascus and all other parties to the conflict to stop the violence, and prevent it from spreading further.

"Let me appeal to all of you to engage earnestly and seriously with all other stakeholders, mindful that if regional and international divisions play out in Syria, the Syrian people and the region – your region – will pay the price," Annan said.

"The time is coming, if it is not already here, for a serious review. The international community must decide what it does next.

“From my consultations with many actors, I sense a clear recognition that things cannot continue as they are. I agree. The international community must work together more effectively to push for implementation of the six-point plan in full. We must think this through and we must get it right," he added.

Annan travels to New York to brief the General Assembly and the Security Council next Thursday.

Shortly after Annan addressed the Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria in Doha, the Arab League Council of Ministers issued a statement demanding stronger UN measures against the Syrian regime to secure its full implementation of Annan’s plan within a “set timeframe,” including non-military action provided for by Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The statement was referring to Chapter VII Article 41 of the Charter that allows the Security Council to impose sanctions to enforce compliance with its decision.

Article 41 states, “The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.”

The Arab League foreign ministers also called on network providers ArabSat and NileSat to cut out state-run and private Syrian channels.

Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon voiced reservations about the statement in full or in part.

One political analyst who is annoyed by Annan’s downbeat report to the Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria in Doha is Tariq Alhomayed, who is editor-in-chief of the leading Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat.

After his last meeting with Assad, Annan told reporters in Beirut it was the role of the Security Council to consider other ways forward in Syria.

“I know we are all impatient; we are all frustrated by the violence, by the killings. So am I. I think I am probably more frustrated than any of you because I am in the thick of things and would really want to see things move much faster than it has done,” he declared.

“If it is not this proposal on the table, there could be something else. I am not one of those that believe there is only one way; there could be other ways. And if other proposals are on the table, I am sure the Security Council will look at them and I will be the first to say, 'Bravo, let's move with it.’”

Annan, in other words, does not want to personally avow the failure of his mission. He is trying to toss the hot potato into the lap of the Security Council, which is already shackled to the wall by Russia and China.

Alhomayed says, “The frustration is that many people don’t want to face the truth, and Mr. Annan is one of them.”

Meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday called her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the situation in Syria.  A State Department official said Clinton's message to Lavrov was: "We’ve got to start working together to help the Syrians with Syria's political transition strategy.  U.S. and Russian officials should engage diplomatically to come up with ideas in Moscow, Washington, New York and wherever we need to."

How Syria fire is creeping up on Lebanon

Rifaat Eid

Lebanon is being dragged gradually but surely into the Syria cauldron.

After this week’s round of fighting between Alawite and Sunnite militias in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city bordering Syria, three statements made overnight are symptomatic:

One, the overlord of Lebanon’s Alawites says he has no qualms about inviting the Syrian Army to restore order in Tripoli.

Two, the “March 14” coalition, which is the Syrian regime’s nemesis in Lebanon, says it wants Arab countries and the international community to help protect Lebanon’s northern and eastern borders with Syria.

Three, President Bashar al-Assad tells a Russian broadcaster Lebanon and Jordan have been helping to thwart the infiltration of terrorists and the smuggling of arms because they were aware “chaos” in Syria could spread to them.

Eid

After the Lebanese Army curbed the May 12-14 clashes between Tripoli's two adjacent districts -- the predominantly Sunnite “Bab al-Tebbaneh” and the overwhelmingly Alawite “Jabal Mohsen” – Alawite chieftain Rifaat Eid talked tough at his Bab al-Tebbaneh stronghold.

He told a Wednesday press conference the latest clashes were instigated by the “March 14” coalition and “gifted” to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who visited Lebanon in early May.

He described the cessation of violence in Tripoli as the “fighter’s rest,” adding: “Jabal Mohsen is paying the price of its political affinities with the resistance of (Hezbollah leader) Hassan Nasrallah, with the steadfastness of President Bashar al-Assad, with the missiles of Iran, with the Russian bear and with China.”

Eid said if the situation deteriorated further “there would be no solution left. Everyone should be aware that sliding further into the unknown would mean no one could pacify Lebanon except through the intervention of an Arab army. And no one would be able to do so except Syria. If you asked me my opinion, I have no problem with (the Syrian army coming in). Better this happened today than tomorrow…”

March 14

Parallel to Eid’s press conference, a statement by the “March 14” general secretariat was reiterating the coalition’s “political support for the Syrian revolution and its humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees.”

The statement blamed the violence in Tripoli on “the Syrian regime’s attempts to export its internal crisis” to neighboring Lebanon, adding: “In view of repeated violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty by the Syrian regime’s army, such as the detonation of the situation in Tripoli and the attacks on the areas of Arida, Wadi Khaled, Ersal, el-Qaa and Jabal el-Sheikh, and in view of the (Lebanese) political authorities and security forces’ ineptitude to protect the northern and eastern borders with Syria, ‘March 14’ requests that Arab countries and the international community be solicited to do so in keeping with UN resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701.”

Assad

Speaking in an interview broadcast Wednesday on Russian state news channel Rossiya-24, Assad said Russia and China, who repeatedly expressed their support for Syria and backed the country in the UN Security Council, are not supporting him as head of state or his regime, but international stability.

“They [Russia and China] do not support me as president,” he said. “They promote stability in the region and have a very good understanding of Syria’s role and importance [in the Middle East].”

Without them Syria, as well as the region as a whole, “would be swept by chaos,” he said.

Assad said neighboring states like Lebanon and Jordan had been helping to thwart the shipment of weapons and the infiltration of fighters because they were aware the “chaos” could spread to them, and he said Europe and the West should be aware of the same danger in supporting the opposition.

Assad denounced the armed opposition as a gang of “criminals” who he said included religious extremists and members of al-Qaeda.

“It is not an army and it is not free,” he said, referring to the opposition’s Free Syrian Army.

“They get money and weapons from abroad from various countries. It is a group of criminals who have for years broken the law and received convictions. There are also religious extremists there like from al-Qaeda.”

Assad said, “Through the interrogation of terrorists, it became irrefutably clear weapons are being smuggled across the Syrian borders from neighboring countries and funds are being sent from people abroad… We have information about people leading these operations outside Syria and in several countries.

"There are bombs and mines placed in areas with civilians and may target civilians sometimes and they may target security forces or the police or the army… There are also-anti-tank weapons, which is new and serious… So all things point to the fact that there are countries responsible for armament and not individuals who may actually be fronts for these countries.

"Where do the weapons come from? From neighboring countries… (But) we cannot accuse them of being involved in the smuggling as it's difficult to control borders with surrounding countries..."