MISI GAGAL PRESIDEN LEBANON
http://cahyono-adi.blogspot.com/2013/11/misi-gagal-presiden-lebanon.html#.UpwbVSeN6So
Entah atas pertimbangan apa Presiden Lebanon, Michael Suleiman, seorang
Kristen yang secara kultural lebih dekat dengan barat, "mendekati" Saudi
Arabia melalui kunjungan resmi tgl 11 November lalu. Saudi Arabia
tengah sakit dan pengaruhnya di Timur Tengah berada di titik terendah
terutama setelah kegagalan "proyek Syria". Cap Saudi sebagai "negara bos
para teroris" dan "pelindung para ekstremis Islam" tentu juga tidak
menguntungkan popularitasnya di Lebanon yang pluralis.
Tapi kunjungan tetap dilakukan, dan kekecewaan lah yang didapat.
Dengan berbasa-basi memuji peran Saudi terhadap negara Lebanon, Sulaeiman berharap Saudi akan memperkuat dukungan ekonomi kepada Lebanon terutama terkait dengan beban ekonomi yang ditanggung Lebanon akibat keberadaan pengungsi Syria. Harapan kedua, dan inilah yang terbesar, adalah peran aktif Saudi untuk membantu memecah kebuntuan politik Lebanon terkait pembentukan kabinet yang tidak juga tuntas akibat penolakan blok politik sekutu Saudi, Partai Al Muqtakbal, yang dipimpin mantan perdana menteri Saad Hariri dan Fuad Siniora.
Namun, alih-alih jawaban memuaskan, Raja Abdullah justru memojokkan Sulaeman ke posisi yang paling tidak diinginkan oleh semua pemimpin politik Lebanon, yaitu berhadap-hadapan melawan Hizbollah.
"Anda harus mengirimkan tentara untuk menghentikan keterlibatan Hizbollah di Syria," kata Raja Abdullah.
Sulaimen adalah seorang jendral dan mantan panglima Tentara Lebanon. Ia faham betul bahwa Hizbollah tidak bisa dikalahkan. Jangankan oleh tentara Lebanon, Israel pun berulangkali dibuat kalang kabut oleh Hizbollah. Itulah sebabnya, sebagai panglima tentara yang secara konstitusi berada di bawah komando perdana menteri, ia memilih netral dalam konflik bersenjata antara perdana menteri Fuad Siniora dengan Hizbollah tahun 2008.
Kala itu Fuad Siniora dengan percaya diri karena bantuan senjata, milisi-milisi bersenjata dan limpahan uang dari Saudi, mencoba kekuatan Hizbollah dengan berusaha merampas jaringan telekomunikasi milik Hizbollah yang menjadi sumber kekuatan Hizbollah menghadapi Israel. Pemimpin Hizbollah Sayyed Nasrallah telah memperingatkan Siniora bahwa jika mau Hizbollah sanggup membuat Siniora terbangun esok hari di dalam penjara. Namun peringatan itu tidak diindahkan Siniora.
Maka Hizbollah pun bertindak cepat dengan menyerang posisi milisi-milisi pendukung Siniora di Beirut dan sekitarnya. Benar saja. Dalam sehari pertempuran, Siniora sudah terkepung di dalam kediaman resminya. Maka, alih-alih merampas jaringan telekomunikasi Hizbollah, Siniora harus merelakan beberapa pos kabinetnya jatuh ke tangan Hizbollah.
Maka demi mendengar permintaan Raja Abdullah tersebut, Suleiman pun tersentak kaget dan setelahnya hanya bisa termangu-mangu. Pada saat itulah muncul kejutan lain yang diterima Suleiman, yaitu ketika kemudian muncul sosok Saad Hariri, mantan perdana menteri Lebanon yang merupakan "anak emas" kerajaan Saudi. Demi mencairkan suasana, dengan berbasa-basi Hariri memuji peran Suleiman dalam mencegah keterlibatan Lebanon dalam konflik Syria.
"Jika mampu (melawan Hizbollah) tentu beliau akan melakukannya," kata Hariri kepada raja.
Kehadiran Hariri tanpa pemberitahuan sebelumnya kepada Sulaimen sebenarnya bisa ditafsirkan sebagai penghinaan bagi Suleiman. Ia adalah seorang presiden yang tengah dalam pembicaraan resmi dengan seorang raja, sementara Hariri hanya warga biasa yang tengah dilanda kebangkrutan ekonomi dan politik. Pada situasi seperti ini tentu sangat sulit bagi Suleiman untuk membicarakan isu pembentukan kabinet. Maka kunjungan Suleiman pun mengalami kegagalan total.
REF:
"Saudi King Tells Suleiman Army Must Fight Hezbollah"; Al Akhbar; 27 November 2013
Tapi kunjungan tetap dilakukan, dan kekecewaan lah yang didapat.
Dengan berbasa-basi memuji peran Saudi terhadap negara Lebanon, Sulaeiman berharap Saudi akan memperkuat dukungan ekonomi kepada Lebanon terutama terkait dengan beban ekonomi yang ditanggung Lebanon akibat keberadaan pengungsi Syria. Harapan kedua, dan inilah yang terbesar, adalah peran aktif Saudi untuk membantu memecah kebuntuan politik Lebanon terkait pembentukan kabinet yang tidak juga tuntas akibat penolakan blok politik sekutu Saudi, Partai Al Muqtakbal, yang dipimpin mantan perdana menteri Saad Hariri dan Fuad Siniora.
Namun, alih-alih jawaban memuaskan, Raja Abdullah justru memojokkan Sulaeman ke posisi yang paling tidak diinginkan oleh semua pemimpin politik Lebanon, yaitu berhadap-hadapan melawan Hizbollah.
"Anda harus mengirimkan tentara untuk menghentikan keterlibatan Hizbollah di Syria," kata Raja Abdullah.
Sulaimen adalah seorang jendral dan mantan panglima Tentara Lebanon. Ia faham betul bahwa Hizbollah tidak bisa dikalahkan. Jangankan oleh tentara Lebanon, Israel pun berulangkali dibuat kalang kabut oleh Hizbollah. Itulah sebabnya, sebagai panglima tentara yang secara konstitusi berada di bawah komando perdana menteri, ia memilih netral dalam konflik bersenjata antara perdana menteri Fuad Siniora dengan Hizbollah tahun 2008.
Kala itu Fuad Siniora dengan percaya diri karena bantuan senjata, milisi-milisi bersenjata dan limpahan uang dari Saudi, mencoba kekuatan Hizbollah dengan berusaha merampas jaringan telekomunikasi milik Hizbollah yang menjadi sumber kekuatan Hizbollah menghadapi Israel. Pemimpin Hizbollah Sayyed Nasrallah telah memperingatkan Siniora bahwa jika mau Hizbollah sanggup membuat Siniora terbangun esok hari di dalam penjara. Namun peringatan itu tidak diindahkan Siniora.
Maka Hizbollah pun bertindak cepat dengan menyerang posisi milisi-milisi pendukung Siniora di Beirut dan sekitarnya. Benar saja. Dalam sehari pertempuran, Siniora sudah terkepung di dalam kediaman resminya. Maka, alih-alih merampas jaringan telekomunikasi Hizbollah, Siniora harus merelakan beberapa pos kabinetnya jatuh ke tangan Hizbollah.
Maka demi mendengar permintaan Raja Abdullah tersebut, Suleiman pun tersentak kaget dan setelahnya hanya bisa termangu-mangu. Pada saat itulah muncul kejutan lain yang diterima Suleiman, yaitu ketika kemudian muncul sosok Saad Hariri, mantan perdana menteri Lebanon yang merupakan "anak emas" kerajaan Saudi. Demi mencairkan suasana, dengan berbasa-basi Hariri memuji peran Suleiman dalam mencegah keterlibatan Lebanon dalam konflik Syria.
"Jika mampu (melawan Hizbollah) tentu beliau akan melakukannya," kata Hariri kepada raja.
Kehadiran Hariri tanpa pemberitahuan sebelumnya kepada Sulaimen sebenarnya bisa ditafsirkan sebagai penghinaan bagi Suleiman. Ia adalah seorang presiden yang tengah dalam pembicaraan resmi dengan seorang raja, sementara Hariri hanya warga biasa yang tengah dilanda kebangkrutan ekonomi dan politik. Pada situasi seperti ini tentu sangat sulit bagi Suleiman untuk membicarakan isu pembentukan kabinet. Maka kunjungan Suleiman pun mengalami kegagalan total.
REF:
"Saudi King Tells Suleiman Army Must Fight Hezbollah"; Al Akhbar; 27 November 2013
Saudi King Tells Suleiman Army Must Fight Hezbollah
A
handout picture released by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) shows Saudi's
King Abdullah (R) meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman during
an official visit on November 11, 2013 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo:
AFP - SPA)
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman’s trip to Saudi Arabia in
mid-November did not go so well on many levels – the worst moment being
when the Saudi king told him that the army must stop Hezbollah from
fighting in Syria.
Two
weeks have passed since President Michel Suleiman returned from his
visit to Saudi Arabia, and the bad news about how it went keeps flowing.
It was billed as a critical visit during which the Lebanese president
was hoping to get a Saudi nod in favor of forming a government.
In the end, very little was achieved other than a cold reception by
the king, who barely had anything to say to Suleiman, other than
ordering him to send the army after Hezbollah to prevent it from
fighting in Syria.
Worse yet, when the president arrived at the meeting with the king,
he was surprised to see former prime minister Saad Hariri sitting by the
monarch’s side, as if he were the honored guest.
The president did try to go through the formalities of talking about
the dangers Lebanon was facing as a result of the Syrian crisis,
mentioning the flood of refugees. Suleiman did not fail to mention the
“positive role” that the kingdom was playing in Lebanon to preserve its
economic well-being, only to be told sternly by his royal host: “You
must send in the army to prevent Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria.”
The president was taken aback and was at a loss for words. This is
when Hariri stepped in to heap praise upon Suleiman, saying that the man
was doing all he could to keep Lebanon out of the Syrian crisis and
that if he were able to stop Hezbollah in any way, he would have.
At this point, it was impossible for Suleiman to raise the issue of
forming a government – if the Saudis want the Lebanese army to fight
Hezbollah, then having a reasonable discussion about a new cabinet
seemed impossible.
The president did manage to raise the issue of Syrian refugees and
support for the army with other Saudi officials he met. In the end,
however, he returned demoralized, with nothing more than promises and a
sense that Lebanon will continue to be site of confrontation and
violence for the coming months.
(Al-Akhbar)
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
TURKI DAN QATAR PUN MERAPAT KE-IRAN
http://cahyono-adi.blogspot.com/2013/11/turki-dan-qatar-pun-merapat-ke-iran.html#.UpwoIyeN6So
Saya (blogger) baru benar-benar memahami mengapa Iran melakukan sikap
politik yang agak aneh dengan memberikan dukungan kepada regim Mohammad
Moersi yang terguling. Padahal ketika berkuasa Moersi adalah "musuh"
Iran dalam konflik Syria, juga turut menyebarkan sentimen anti-Shiah.
Dengan sikap tersebut kini "menuai" hasilnya, yaitu mendekatnya
negara-negara Ikhwanul Muslimin ke Iran.
Dengan posisi politik yang semakin terdesak dalam kancah politik internasional paska tumbangnya Mohammad Moersi, yang merupakan "patron" dari gerakan Ikhwanul Muslimin dunia, sementara pada saat yang sama Iran kini muncul sebagai kekuatan dunia paska ditandatanganinya kesepakatan nuklir di Genewa, negara-negara yang dikuasai gerakan ini-pun kini berduyun-duyun "mendatangi" Iran untuk mendapatkan "berkah" Iran.
Kita sudah pernah memberitakan tentang kelompok perlawanan Palestina Hamas yang telah kembali ke dalam lingkaran pengaruh Iran. Kini 2 negara utama Ikhwanul Muslimin, Turki dan Qatar pun menyusul.
Menlu Turki Ahmet Davutoglu baru saja menjamu menlu Iran dan PM Recep Tayyip Eredogan pun telah merencanakan kunjungan resmi ke Iran. Namun tanda paling mencolok berubahnya orientasi politik Turki mendekati Iran adalah kunjungan Davutoglu ke Irak baru-baru ini: Davutoglu mengenakan baju warna hitam yang merupakan simbol utama kaum Shiah, berdoa di tempat-tempat suci kaum Shiah, menemui pemimpin spiritual Shiah tertinggi Irak Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, menemui pemimpin politik Shiah Moktada al-Sadr, dan berbicara tentang "memeluk saudara-saudara Shiah" di kota suci Shiah Karbala.
"Tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa romantisme (Erdogan) di Timur Tengah telah berakhir," kata Suat Kiniklioglu, mantan petinggi Partai Keadilan dan Pembangunan Turki yang dipimpin PM Erdogan, yang kini menjadi analis politik yang tinggal di Ankara.
“Erdogan kini bukan lagi pahlawan rakyat di Timur Tengah," kata Kemal Kilicdaroglu, pimpinan partai oposisi Turki Republican People’s Party.
Kemal merujuk pada sosok Erdogan yang sempat dielu-elukan masyarakat Timur Tengah setelah dengan berani mencerca Presiden Israel Shimon Peres di sela-sela acara pertemuan ekonomi dunia di Davos tahun 2009. Juga pada kunjungan bersejarah Erdogan ke Gaza yang mendapat sambutan meriah. Kini, setelah Mesir mengusir Dubes Turki, rencana kunjungan Erdogan ke Gaza pun dibatalkan karena alasan keamanan.
Kini harapan terbesar Turki dari Iran, selain memperpanjang kontrak penjualan migas Iran ke Turki, adalah bisa membujuk Iran untuk meninggalkan dukungannya kepada Presiden Syria Bashar al Assad. Setelah bersama pemimpin-pemimpin barat sempat berkoar-koar tentang tuntutan penggulingan Bashar al Assad sebagai syarat perdamaian Syria, keberhasilan membujuk Iran akan menjadi satu-satunya pemulih kepercayaan diri Erdogan. Namun tentu saja Iran bukan "pengkhianat" bagi seorang sahabat seperti Bashar al Assad.
Selain Turki, Qatar juga dikabarkan kini aktif mendekati Iran melalui Hizbollah dan Syria. Ini terlihat dari aktifnya Qatar menjadi penengah beberapa pertukaran tawanan antara Lebanon, Turki dan Syria. Media Lebanon Al Akhbar baru-baru ini mengabarkan bahwa Qatar telah memiliki kontak langsung dengan Hizbollah menyusul keberhasilan Qatar menjadi penengah pertukaran-pertukaran tawanan itu. Melalui kontak itulah Qatar kini mulai mendapatkan kembali akses komunikasi ke pemerintah Syria meski Presiden Bashar al Assad masih "mengulur waktu" untuk bisa menerima langsung utusan Emir Qatar.
Dengan posisi politik yang semakin terdesak dalam kancah politik internasional paska tumbangnya Mohammad Moersi, yang merupakan "patron" dari gerakan Ikhwanul Muslimin dunia, sementara pada saat yang sama Iran kini muncul sebagai kekuatan dunia paska ditandatanganinya kesepakatan nuklir di Genewa, negara-negara yang dikuasai gerakan ini-pun kini berduyun-duyun "mendatangi" Iran untuk mendapatkan "berkah" Iran.
Kita sudah pernah memberitakan tentang kelompok perlawanan Palestina Hamas yang telah kembali ke dalam lingkaran pengaruh Iran. Kini 2 negara utama Ikhwanul Muslimin, Turki dan Qatar pun menyusul.
Menlu Turki Ahmet Davutoglu baru saja menjamu menlu Iran dan PM Recep Tayyip Eredogan pun telah merencanakan kunjungan resmi ke Iran. Namun tanda paling mencolok berubahnya orientasi politik Turki mendekati Iran adalah kunjungan Davutoglu ke Irak baru-baru ini: Davutoglu mengenakan baju warna hitam yang merupakan simbol utama kaum Shiah, berdoa di tempat-tempat suci kaum Shiah, menemui pemimpin spiritual Shiah tertinggi Irak Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, menemui pemimpin politik Shiah Moktada al-Sadr, dan berbicara tentang "memeluk saudara-saudara Shiah" di kota suci Shiah Karbala.
"Tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa romantisme (Erdogan) di Timur Tengah telah berakhir," kata Suat Kiniklioglu, mantan petinggi Partai Keadilan dan Pembangunan Turki yang dipimpin PM Erdogan, yang kini menjadi analis politik yang tinggal di Ankara.
“Erdogan kini bukan lagi pahlawan rakyat di Timur Tengah," kata Kemal Kilicdaroglu, pimpinan partai oposisi Turki Republican People’s Party.
Kemal merujuk pada sosok Erdogan yang sempat dielu-elukan masyarakat Timur Tengah setelah dengan berani mencerca Presiden Israel Shimon Peres di sela-sela acara pertemuan ekonomi dunia di Davos tahun 2009. Juga pada kunjungan bersejarah Erdogan ke Gaza yang mendapat sambutan meriah. Kini, setelah Mesir mengusir Dubes Turki, rencana kunjungan Erdogan ke Gaza pun dibatalkan karena alasan keamanan.
Kini harapan terbesar Turki dari Iran, selain memperpanjang kontrak penjualan migas Iran ke Turki, adalah bisa membujuk Iran untuk meninggalkan dukungannya kepada Presiden Syria Bashar al Assad. Setelah bersama pemimpin-pemimpin barat sempat berkoar-koar tentang tuntutan penggulingan Bashar al Assad sebagai syarat perdamaian Syria, keberhasilan membujuk Iran akan menjadi satu-satunya pemulih kepercayaan diri Erdogan. Namun tentu saja Iran bukan "pengkhianat" bagi seorang sahabat seperti Bashar al Assad.
Selain Turki, Qatar juga dikabarkan kini aktif mendekati Iran melalui Hizbollah dan Syria. Ini terlihat dari aktifnya Qatar menjadi penengah beberapa pertukaran tawanan antara Lebanon, Turki dan Syria. Media Lebanon Al Akhbar baru-baru ini mengabarkan bahwa Qatar telah memiliki kontak langsung dengan Hizbollah menyusul keberhasilan Qatar menjadi penengah pertukaran-pertukaran tawanan itu. Melalui kontak itulah Qatar kini mulai mendapatkan kembali akses komunikasi ke pemerintah Syria meski Presiden Bashar al Assad masih "mengulur waktu" untuk bisa menerima langsung utusan Emir Qatar.
REF:
"Turkey, Its Allies Struggling, Tempers Ambitions to Lead Region"; TIM ARANGO; AL-AKHBAR; 21 November 2013
"Qatar Opens Up to Hezbollah and Damascus After Hostage Deal"; Ibrahim al-Amin; Al-akhbar; 29 November 2013
"Turkey, Its Allies Struggling, Tempers Ambitions to Lead Region"; TIM ARANGO; AL-AKHBAR; 21 November 2013
"Qatar Opens Up to Hezbollah and Damascus After Hostage Deal"; Ibrahim al-Amin; Al-akhbar; 29 November 2013
Assad: Our Battle With Saudi Is Open-Ended
Soldiers
of the Syrian government forces patrol on a tank in a devastated street
on July 31, 2013 in the district of al-Khalidiyah in the central Syrian
city of Homs. (Photo: AFP - Joseph Eid)
Ten days ago, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with a
delegation of party leaders and politicians from Arab countries. He said
unequivocally: The battle will continue as long as Saudi Arabia
continues to “back terrorism,” and the flow of extremist fighters,
money, and arms into Syria continues.
Tunisia
– Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has proclaimed that Saudi and other
countries’ support for terrorist groups will delay any solution to the
crisis. He also said that the Syrian government was advancing on more
than one front against terror and the war against Syria, stressing that
the government would not go to Geneva if it is expected to hand over
power.
Assad’s remarks on the situation in Syria came during a meeting on
the sidelines of the Arab Parties Conference held in Syria 10 days ago. Al-Akhbar interviewed a party leader from the Maghreb who took part in the meeting.
In response to a question on what is happening in Syria, Assad said,
“We have been subjected to a major war. In the first phase, we had to
focus on standing our ground, which is what we did in the first year.
Then we moved into the stage of triumphing over the enemies. There are
experiences in recent history, including what happened with the
Resistance in Lebanon, which stood its ground for many long years, and
then achieved major victories in 2000 and 2006. We have known from the
outset that the battle targeted our independent decision, but this
independent decision was a major factor in our steadfastness and our
victory, although we appreciate the support Syria has received from its
allies, and some allies have had a pivotal role, such as Russia, which
stands on our side because its interests, too, are threatened. I heard
directly from the Russian leadership that they stand alongside Syria to
defend Moscow and not just Damascus.”
Assad continued, “The time required to end the crisis in Syria
depends to a large extent on the ongoing support and funding to armed
groups provided by the actors in the region.”
He added, “Saudi Arabia and other countries are strong backers of terrorism. They have dispatched tens of thousands of takfiris to the country, and Saudi Arabia is paying up to $2,000 as a monthly salary to all those who take up arms on their side.”
Assad said, “There is another problem, related to al-Qaeda’s
infiltration through the border with Iraq. This is something that the
authorities in Baghdad are cracking down on but not entirely with
success. Consequently, stopping Saudi support would have a decisive
impact, especially since the militants and those behind them have been
caught by surprise by our army’s capacity to confront them. Now, we
know, and the whole world knows that al-Qaeda does not pose a threat to
Syria alone. We hope for rational solutions in the coming months, but
the issue is also contingent upon our ability to confront those, and we
are determined to fight them until the end.”
The Syrian president then told his audience, “In
light of the situation on the ground, we do not believe that it is
possible to reach a settlement soon. As long as fighters, weapons, and
funds continue to be sent across the border into Syria, we will not stop
pursuing them. No one in the world can stop us exercising our right to
defend our country. Moreover, today, we find little that can be agreed
upon in Geneva, especially since some wrongly believe that we are going
there to hand over power to them.”
“If this is what they want, then let them come to Syria so we can
hand over power to them,” Assad sarcastically added. “If they decide to
appoint [leader of the opposition National Coalition Ahmad] al-Jarba as
president, do they think he would be able to come to Syria?”
Assad explained that Saudi Arabia “is leading the most extensive
operation of direct sabotage against all the Arab world,” adding, “Saudi
Arabia led the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the battle
against all nations and parties that stand in the face of Israel. The
[Saudis] gave cover to the Camp David agreement, supported the war on
Lebanon in 1982, and today, they are engaged in an open-ended war
against Syria. We are now openly saying that we are at war with them.
True, we accommodated them previously, but they want everything to be
according to their vision and interests.”
Regarding the position of the Western countries that back the armed
Syrian opposition, Assad said, “The colonial West still acts in a vain
mentality. They act like the past 20 years did not happen. They ignore
the US defeat in Iraq, and they act as though the Soviet Union collapsed
only yesterday.”
Concerning the current state of the Arab world and the Arab League,
Assad said, “If the league shall remain under the influence and tutelage
of backwards regimes like those of the Arab Gulf countries, it will
have no role and no value. However, not all the Arab countries have had
their independence taken from them.” He then added, “Today, there is a
brave man making a stand in Iraq who is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
He has important stances, even though his country is torn and many seek
to destroy it. Even Algeria, one could consider its stance ahead of
others. But most importantly, we must take heed of what is taking place
in Egypt today. We see as the rest of the Arabs do that there is in
Cairo today someone telling America frankly and sharply, ‘You have no
business in Egypt’s internal affairs,’ and this is an important position
that must be supported.”
The Syrian leader then spoke about the state of political parties in
Syria and the Arab world, and said, “Vacuum is one of the reasons why
extremist groups have spread. But another reason has to do with the fact
that these parties did not rejuvenate themselves, and they are still
weak. We as a state are keen on boosting their work, not as a party. We
have also been observing the reflection of Syria’s steadfastness on Arab
reality in general, and especially in the Maghreb, which we fear could
be subjected to the rule of NATO.”
Assad then warned against the spread of Wahhabi ideology in the Arab
world, and said, “This requires a new approach to religious
institutions, but first and foremost, it requires supporting a civil
state based on co-citizenship.”
Assad added, “Today’s generation has been subjected to a large-scale
process of spreading ignorance. The generation that preceded us had more
awareness, and this process of spreading ignorance is aimed at keeping
the Arab world in a state of backwardness. I want to remind you that the
West does not want us to ever evolve. I remember when the US Secretary
of State Colin Powell visited us in 2003 and conveyed his country’s
demands from Syria after the occupation of Iraq, he especially wanted us
not to host any Iraqi scientists. We rejected his demand, so the US and
Israeli intelligence liquidated quite a few of those scientists. Today,
they want to eliminate scientists in Iran.”
But Assad noted that, by contrast, awareness among Arab peoples is
reemerging, saying that raising the picture of the late Egyptian
President Gamal Abdul-Nasser in many Arab demonstrations is a sign of
this.
He said, “We are not against religion, but we are against invoking
religion in all aspects of people’s daily lives. Even us, who are
secular, gave religion a role in our constitution, which states
explicitly that Sharia is a source of legislation. However, we refuse
any politicization of religion in the sense that leads to negative
results. As an example that our stance is not against religion, consider
Hezbollah’s case in Lebanon. This is an ideological party that derives
its ideas from religion. But we do not disagree with Hezbollah
politically. This is proof that we don’t have an absolute stance against
religions, but we refuse any religious force that operates in
accordance with takfiri or Wahhabi ideology.
“For this reason, we say that we do not deal with the Muslim
Brotherhood in this way. I believe that Syria cannot tolerate this
faction. They did not give us a positive model in all stages. They
operate on the basis of a sectarian position; otherwise, how can one
explain their stance opposed to Hezbollah? They accept politicization in
all issues, and use sectarian discourse to inflame Sunni-Shia strife.”
He then said, “Syria, like Iran and Hezbollah, tolerate many things
to prevent sedition. Even the approach in dealing with the situation in
Bahrain is very cautious for this reason.”
(Al-Akhbar)
Assad: Hamas Has Betrayed Us Repeatedly, But…
An
image grab taken from a video shows an opposition fighter firing an
rocket propelled grenade (RPG) on August 26, 2013 during clashes with
regime forces over the strategic area of Khanasser, situated on the only
road linking Aleppo to central Syria. (Photo: AFP - Salah al-Ashkar)
Damascus – It is remarkable how much Russia occupies
the strategy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He seems very
reassured by the Russian role, but stresses that the Russians are not
defending Syria as much as they are ultimately defending themselves.
During a recent meeting with visitors at the presidential palace, including Al-Akhbar,
Assad recalls a meeting he held in 2005 with President Vladimir Putin.
At the time, the Syrian president told his host that he felt the Cold
War still existed. Putin agreed, but tackled the question from a
different angle: “True, it is a war,” he said, “but it is a cultural war
between the East and the West.” This is a conviction that the Syrian
president shares.
Assad believes that
Syria’s security and stability can be protected by politics over
weaponry. He reckons that international equilibrium is the best
guarantee, citing the three Russian-Chinese vetoes during the Syrian
crisis as proof.
The Syrian president does not regret giving up chemical weapons. He
maintains that their capacity for deterrence has expired for three
reasons: First, Syria’s missile arsenal has made huge strides, so
deterrence can now be established from the first moments of the war.
This, he said, eliminated the need for chemical weapons, which can only
be used as a last resort if the enemy deploys nuclear weapons.
Second, Assad continues, huge progress has been made in the past two
decades in countering the military effectiveness of chemical weapons,
meaning, their effect is largely psychological.
For example, the Syrian president went on to say, whenever there is a
spike in tension, we see Israel distributing gas masks to its scared
citizens, but when the weapons are used, their effects can be treated
with relative ease. The proof, Assad purports, lies with the five Syrian
soldiers who, hurt in an opposition attack using chemical weapons, were
treated with shots and quickly returned to the battlefield.
Consequently, Assad says that Syria suspended production of chemical
weapons in 1997, replacing them with conventional weapons, which he
believes are the decisive element in the battlefield. Assad explains
that he built the armament structure of his army based on missiles,
saying, “It is enough to lay down fire on Israel’s airports to paralyze
it,” since, as is known, Israel’s strength lies with its air force.
Third, chemical weapons are obsolete because the war is now internal.
No doubt, there was a moral and political loss in handing over the
chemical weapons, according to Assad. In 2003, Damascus proposed ridding
the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction. Syrian chemical
weapons were a bargaining chip whose price was the Israeli nuclear
weapons arsenal. But today, the price has changed. It was agreed that
the Syrian chemical weapons would be handed over in return for sparing
the country a Western military strike.
Even the manufacture of conventional weapons, which was aimed at
countering Israel, is now aimed at internal enemies, which can be
counted as another loss, Assad says. Regarding the Nobel Peace Prize
awarded recently to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW), Assad quips, “The prize should have been mine.”
Goodbye, Geneva
Assad does not believe that Geneva II will be held, even if scheduled
for November. Perhaps the proposed peace conference will be held only
to appease Russia, which is seeking to ward off the specter of war.
Assad says that Syria has no qualms attending, and that its only
demand is clear and based on two principles: elections and ending
support for terrorists. “Whenever we kill 1,000 terrorists, 2,000 more
terrorists enter the country,” Assad says.
The West’s problem, according to the Syrian president, is that the
faction it supports is fragmented and has no control on the ground. The
Free Syrian Army (FSA) is almost done for, he says. Its fighters have
either abandoned it to join Islamic groups, or have joined the
government and are now fighting in the ranks of the Syrian army. Nothing
is left of the forces supported by the West and the Gulf except
terrorists, who have no place in Geneva II, Assad adds.
The
problem, from Assad’s point of view, lies with the other side,
specifically the West. Those that the West can bring to the conference,
he says, have no control on the ground, and as for those who have
control on the ground, the West has no influence over them. He recalls
that Lakhdar Brahimi came to him one time, carrying an American
assessment stating that there were 2,000 militant groups fighting in
Syria. When the Syrian president asked him what his own estimate was,
Brahimi said 1,200. So, Assad asks: Who can control all these groups and
guarantee they would implement any political agreement?
Foreigners Are Better Than the Arabs
Assad is bitter. “Not one Arab official has contacted us with a plan
for mediation or for an Arab solution,” he says. The Arabs, he says,
were always only an echo of their Western “masters,” if not worse.
The Syrian president adds that the West, despite all its flaws,
“Always dealt with us more honorably than some Arabs.” Kofi Annan was
honest and resigned, he remarks, while his Arab aides were not.
Assad stresses that this issue will be dealt with after the crisis.
He does not want to handle it emotionally like Muammar Gaddafi did when
he pivoted to Africa. Assad is adamant about Syria’s Arab identity, but
does not see this as something necessarily linked to the Arab League.
The framework of this identity, in practice and in form, shall be
determined later, according to the president.
Progress on the Field
Assad seems reassured by the progress of military operations. He says
the war follows a hit-and-run pattern, where his army regains control
of some territories while losing others, and so on. However, Assad adds,
if we consider the general course things have been taking, we would
find that the Syrian army is clearly advancing.
In the same vein, the Syrian president highlights two particular
problems: Daraa and the Jordanian front on the one hand, and the north,
on the other hand. In the first, Assad says that fighters and weapons
continue to flow from Jordan, regardless of whether this was being
staged by the Jordanian regime or Gulf countries. As for the second,
specifically in Aleppo near the border with Turkey, Turkish support has
kept the front hot. “But the Turks have a problem now, after al-Qaeda
seized the crossing,” Assad says, adding that there are no intractable
problems in the rest of the regions.
Assad denies categorically the reports circulated a few days ago,
holding that Abbas Zaki, member of Fatah’s central committee, had
brought him a message from the new emir of Qatar. Interestingly, beyond
the reporter’s question about this issue, Assad did not mention Qatar
again in the interview. Khaled Meshaal and his team in Doha figured more
in our conversation with the Syrian president, in fact.
Hamas’ ‘Betrayal’
The
conversation moves to Hamas when the president is asked about the
reports regarding Meshaal’s visit to Tehran, and whether Damascus,
specifically the presidential palace, would be his next stop. But Assad
is keen on clarifying everything in this regard, ending all
equivocation.
First, Assad says that the Muslim Brotherhood, for 80 years, has been
known for its opportunism and betrayal, but stresses that Damascus did
not treat Hamas in the beginning as being part of the international
Islamist organization. “The Europeans would come to us and ask what
Hamas was doing here, and we would say that it was a resistance
movement,” the Syrian president says, adding that only that capacity
made Syria welcome and sponsor Hamas.
Assad says, “When the crisis began, [Hamas officials] claimed that
they gave us advice. This is a lie. Who are they to give Syria advice?
Then they said that we asked for their help, which is also not true.
What business do they have in internal Syrian affairs?”
Later, the president of the World Federation of Muslim Scholars,
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, made his insulting statements about Syria. Assad
says, “Yes, we demanded that they take a stance. A while later, they
came and said that they spoke with Qaradawi. We said that those who want
to take a political stance should do so publicly. What value does a
stance have if taken in closed rooms?”
Estrangement between Hamas and the Syrian regime ensued. Assad holds
that Hamas ultimately decided to abandon resistance and to fully merge
with the Muslim Brotherhood. He adds, “This was not the first time they
had betrayed us. It happened before in 2007 and 2009. Their history is
one of treachery and betrayal.” Assad then wished “someone would
persuade them to return to being a resistance movement,” but says that
he doubts this will happen. “Hamas has sided against Syria from day one.
They have made their choice,” he adds.
Oddly, Walid Jumblatt and US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns
suddenly slip into the conversation, when Assad is asked whether he
would receive Meshaal. “Don’t rule out seeing Jumblatt here,” he jokes.
Assad then recalls how Burns came to visit him before the invasion of
Iraq in 2003. Burns presented Assad with a list of demands to
facilitate the military operations against Iran, including allowing US
warplanes to cross Syrian airspace, telling him that no one would
notice. Assad’s answer was simple: “You are a government with no
principles, and you pursue your foreign policy on commercial bases. Give
us a deal, and we will see if it is in our interests and we will show
it to the Syrian people.”
Assad is clearly still wounded by Hamas’ actions. But he keeps the
door open to all possibilities if Syria’s interests require making
certain rapprochements. In the end, he says, politics is about both
principles and interests.
Iraq: Relations Are Very Good
“[Iraq’s] stance has been very good from the beginning,” he says.
Assad stresses that he’s not only talking about Baghdad, but also Iraqi
Kurdistan. Though Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari expressed some
extreme positions, Assad says, Iraq’s stance remains “very good.”
Meanwhile,
Damascus has been closely monitoring the situation in Egypt. Assad
asserts, “Egypt is the fortress of the Arabs,” saying that relations
with Egypt are today better than they were, even under former President
Hosni Mubarak.
Under Mubarak, Assad continues, “We considered the Egyptian Foreign
Ministry the equivalent of the U.S. Department of State.” But
interestingly, Assad said that relations with Egypt were never severed,
even under deposed president Mohamed Mursi, revealing that the military
and intelligence channels remained open with Egypt the entire time.
Saudi, the Tribal State
In the meantime, hostility and estrangement with Saudi Arabia
continues. At the end of the day, Assad remarks, Saudi Arabia is nothing
more than “a state of tribes and individuals.”
“Personal relations determine [policy], and when one person falls out with us, all of Saudi Arabia falls out with us,” he adds.
“The Saudis have been hostile to Syria for the past 20 to 30 years to
begin with. What changed was the relationship with their master. When
their master’s relationship with us is good, they are good with us. When
their masters fall out with us, they become hostile to us. There is
always the personal factor in Saudi policies,” he says.
With respect to Turkey, according to Assad, the problem is confined
to the person of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish people, Assad
maintains, are opposed to Erdogan’s policies. Even President Abdullah
Gul has started to publicly express his opposition to the policies of
his prime minister, Assad purports, saying that Gul thinks that if
Erdogan wants to gamble with himself, he should at least not gamble his
entire political party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The Secular State
Under no circumstances will Syria follow the Lebanese or Iraqi model,
Assad proclaims. Syria is and will remain a secular state because this
is the only suitable formula for cohesion in the country, which enjoys
religious, sectarian, and ethnic pluralism, Assad says.
He asserts there should be no politicization of religion in Syria
because this would simply be a recipe for disintegration. Religion, he
went on to say, has its spiritual and humanitarian functions, praising
the vital role played by patriotic clerics in maintaining the unity of
the Syrian fabric and combatting takfiri ideas, especially the late Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, who was killed while doing this duty.
Economy: Some Self-Criticism
Assad speaks about the pressures currently faced by the Syrian
economy. He says that the cycle of production, distribution, and trade
had come to a halt, and though it has started spinning in the past two
months, it has remained slow. The embargo and terrorism, he adds, have
exhausted the Syrian economy and damaged the Syrians’ living standards.
He then stresses that his country did not – and will not – abandon
the public sector, in addition to the private and hybrid sectors. Assad
says that the reform package, dubbed a “social-market economy,” did not
prove to always be balanced, saying that Syria rushed into policies
tipped toward privatization, while the public sector was not developed.
Moreover, he says, the Syrian government focused on large investments
when the Syrian economy should’ve focused on small- and medium-sized
enterprises. Assad adds, “Our primary concern – now – is to preserve and
develop the agricultural sector. In the end, more than 60 percent of
the people are farmers, and perhaps more than 80 percent are farmers and
workers.”
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Comments
Submitted by Elias (not verified) on Thu, 2013-10-17 20:49.
Bashar al assad belongs in hell. This arrogant murderer is most
likely a sociopath. He talks like a thug and acts like a thug. If it
wasen't for hezballah, he wouldn't have survived. His army is a joke. He
forgot when he was best friends with saudi arabia it seems, were they
not a tribal society then? Hypocrite.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2013-10-20 13:47.
If it was not for the Saudi , USA , Qatar Turkey supporting AL Qaeda,
Taliban , Wahhabi , ISIL subhuman terrorist dogs hardliner Islamic
terrorist would not have been able to do what they are doing now , Go
back to Tel Aviv or Wahhabi land or to the hell where you where spawned
from .. USA is Allies with the Wahhabi's and are SUPPORTING the Syrian
Massacre , Israel stated it prefers Al Qaeda in power in Syria over
Damascus alliance with Israel's arch foe Iran ......who is the sociopath
government here ?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 2013-10-19 00:55.
And your Takfiri/Wahabbi friends beheading Christians are the nice guys.
People like you who praise the wicked and denigrate the good, are just a fine piece of work.
Elias; sounds Zio-Ogre.
People like you who praise the wicked and denigrate the good, are just a fine piece of work.
Elias; sounds Zio-Ogre.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2013-10-17 09:59.
The 'sources' for this interview are Lebanese political minions who visit Assad so that he does not feel acutely lonely.
Submitted by chrisrushlau (not verified) on Tue, 2013-10-15 20:48.
When I got back from Iraq in 2005 my mentor when I was a law student
gave me a half hour interview or audience (you know, a lawyer charges
you by the hour, his time is a commodity). He was Jewish, a friend of
Israel, but also a legal scholar, which means he questions the law. So
he and I had a basic principle in common, and so he allowed me to get a
law degree. The next year they changed the rules so he could not have
done that.
In this interview he said one thing relevant here to this very good x-ray picture of Syrian affairs from Elie Chalhoub. He said that Iraq had 20-some million people and the US government thought it could manipulate Iraqi politics, while Israel had six million people or so and nobody could even understand its politics, not even Israelis. That statement did not seem relevant to me at the time but it may be the biggest fruit of that conversation and of this friendship, which has been "on hold" since that time, it seeming to him, perhaps, that he had said what he had to say.
So Syria is Assad, and he is managing well. He has help from Russia, which is Putin. If we looked at US/Israeli matters with the same degree of detail and honesty (looking for the main themes), we would say that the governmental shutdown in the US (today's headline on Russia Today: "Plan B: Central banks getting ready for financial Armageddon") is Israel's last gasp or last stand. MJ Rosenberg joked last month that Netanyahu would "defund Obamacare" in revenge for lack of support from Obama on Syria or Iran (and Obama did all he could on Syria).
This is the Masada Plan or the Samson Plan. Israel, let me clarify, is partly in Palestine and partly in the US, with elements scattered across Europe. If there is a leader of Israel nobody knows that person's name: I speculate it is a widow in a Chicago suburb, sort of a covert Imam. Modern Israel's policy has been from the first day to kill Arabs and build golf courses until God wakes up and then we all shall die. Maybe the only role of the leader is to announce the Last Day. This shutdown may be that announcement.
A tiny bit of evidence: MSN has a news headline from its NBC connection right now, that the stock markets have slid for five days in a row; but the Dow is 15,260. Last week it had dropped into the 14,000's. Suddenly it leapt up 360 points in one day, with no deal on the shutdown anywhere in sight. No mention of the miraculous leap in the headlines. Now, after a couple of days of twenty or fifty point daily drops, we get this cautionary headline. The propaganda machine of the Israel lobby, also known as the main stream media in the US, is apparently entirely disconnected from everything and is shooting darts in the dark. I explain that 360 point leap on one day last week as the Israel lobby's Wall Street branch's decision that the US public might be getting restless and needed some tranquilization. I've assumed for several years that Wall Street gnomes reserve a thousand point freedom of action for political purposes. My point is that this action is now unconnected to any political purpose. The lobby has disintegrated, and its default mode is Masada or Samson: pulling down the temple on its and our heads.
But I think what is happening in a deeper and longer lasting sense is that the vast majority of the people who make up the Israel lobby are abandoning it. (Just consider Obama's trouncing on the "attack Syria" gambit: despite AIPAC going all-out in his support, it could only have been the middle ranks of that same Israel lobby that could manage, literally, the successful resistance to Obama's call to arms. I state that dogmatically, even pontifically.) At the moment there is no clear rearrangement evident in US politics, and the two political parties will be the last places to show signs of a new arrangement via their official actions.
So it will be here now as it was in 1776-1783 when the American colonies separated themselves from the English king-in-parliament. The US small-c constitution did not change then (witness the retention of slave-owning) and it will not change now. What is happening is the removal of the autocrat figurehead. Now modern Israel, this transnational cult, has been for the US like the tsar was in pre-revolutionary Russia: the absolute power: but the difference is that the tsar was one man with his habits, his wardrobe, his ear-lobes, his hairline, his wife, his circle of friends, whereas the Israel lobby has been a lobby full of people, a crowd of people in a large room in a public building. There had been a consensus in the crowd, and now the consensus is evaporating, or let me correct myself: there had been an assumed consensus, about Masada-Samson, but barely one or two people in the crowd were actually prepared to take it that far. The rest regarded this as a marketing gimmick. But the power of the lobby was engineered on the basis of this Last Day, and so that Last Day has come upon us, but at the same time, it emerges, or will emerge, that the vast majority of these people do not want to destroy the US or the world. So they will leave, figuratively speaking, the large room in this public building, go to their respective homes, go to their places of employment, telephone their friends, do email, watch soccer games, and the day will soon come when Palestine is governed by a secular constitution, Jews, Judaism and Jewishness have resumed their separate and often discordant natures within the civil rights framework, and the US and the world will look back and wonder what flaw in the US large-C Constitution permitted this coup that governed the country autocratically for twenty years or so. Was it "money in politics"? Was it residual racism in the US national tradition? Was it apathy and venality among voters? Was it a historical opportunity (even Soviet Russia saw the value to a "Jewish state" in Palestine) that could not be let go, that was just too tempting?
We shall see about that, but I think, more to the point, we do see now: that time is past.
In this interview he said one thing relevant here to this very good x-ray picture of Syrian affairs from Elie Chalhoub. He said that Iraq had 20-some million people and the US government thought it could manipulate Iraqi politics, while Israel had six million people or so and nobody could even understand its politics, not even Israelis. That statement did not seem relevant to me at the time but it may be the biggest fruit of that conversation and of this friendship, which has been "on hold" since that time, it seeming to him, perhaps, that he had said what he had to say.
So Syria is Assad, and he is managing well. He has help from Russia, which is Putin. If we looked at US/Israeli matters with the same degree of detail and honesty (looking for the main themes), we would say that the governmental shutdown in the US (today's headline on Russia Today: "Plan B: Central banks getting ready for financial Armageddon") is Israel's last gasp or last stand. MJ Rosenberg joked last month that Netanyahu would "defund Obamacare" in revenge for lack of support from Obama on Syria or Iran (and Obama did all he could on Syria).
This is the Masada Plan or the Samson Plan. Israel, let me clarify, is partly in Palestine and partly in the US, with elements scattered across Europe. If there is a leader of Israel nobody knows that person's name: I speculate it is a widow in a Chicago suburb, sort of a covert Imam. Modern Israel's policy has been from the first day to kill Arabs and build golf courses until God wakes up and then we all shall die. Maybe the only role of the leader is to announce the Last Day. This shutdown may be that announcement.
A tiny bit of evidence: MSN has a news headline from its NBC connection right now, that the stock markets have slid for five days in a row; but the Dow is 15,260. Last week it had dropped into the 14,000's. Suddenly it leapt up 360 points in one day, with no deal on the shutdown anywhere in sight. No mention of the miraculous leap in the headlines. Now, after a couple of days of twenty or fifty point daily drops, we get this cautionary headline. The propaganda machine of the Israel lobby, also known as the main stream media in the US, is apparently entirely disconnected from everything and is shooting darts in the dark. I explain that 360 point leap on one day last week as the Israel lobby's Wall Street branch's decision that the US public might be getting restless and needed some tranquilization. I've assumed for several years that Wall Street gnomes reserve a thousand point freedom of action for political purposes. My point is that this action is now unconnected to any political purpose. The lobby has disintegrated, and its default mode is Masada or Samson: pulling down the temple on its and our heads.
But I think what is happening in a deeper and longer lasting sense is that the vast majority of the people who make up the Israel lobby are abandoning it. (Just consider Obama's trouncing on the "attack Syria" gambit: despite AIPAC going all-out in his support, it could only have been the middle ranks of that same Israel lobby that could manage, literally, the successful resistance to Obama's call to arms. I state that dogmatically, even pontifically.) At the moment there is no clear rearrangement evident in US politics, and the two political parties will be the last places to show signs of a new arrangement via their official actions.
So it will be here now as it was in 1776-1783 when the American colonies separated themselves from the English king-in-parliament. The US small-c constitution did not change then (witness the retention of slave-owning) and it will not change now. What is happening is the removal of the autocrat figurehead. Now modern Israel, this transnational cult, has been for the US like the tsar was in pre-revolutionary Russia: the absolute power: but the difference is that the tsar was one man with his habits, his wardrobe, his ear-lobes, his hairline, his wife, his circle of friends, whereas the Israel lobby has been a lobby full of people, a crowd of people in a large room in a public building. There had been a consensus in the crowd, and now the consensus is evaporating, or let me correct myself: there had been an assumed consensus, about Masada-Samson, but barely one or two people in the crowd were actually prepared to take it that far. The rest regarded this as a marketing gimmick. But the power of the lobby was engineered on the basis of this Last Day, and so that Last Day has come upon us, but at the same time, it emerges, or will emerge, that the vast majority of these people do not want to destroy the US or the world. So they will leave, figuratively speaking, the large room in this public building, go to their respective homes, go to their places of employment, telephone their friends, do email, watch soccer games, and the day will soon come when Palestine is governed by a secular constitution, Jews, Judaism and Jewishness have resumed their separate and often discordant natures within the civil rights framework, and the US and the world will look back and wonder what flaw in the US large-C Constitution permitted this coup that governed the country autocratically for twenty years or so. Was it "money in politics"? Was it residual racism in the US national tradition? Was it apathy and venality among voters? Was it a historical opportunity (even Soviet Russia saw the value to a "Jewish state" in Palestine) that could not be let go, that was just too tempting?
We shall see about that, but I think, more to the point, we do see now: that time is past.
Submitted by Activist4Justice (not verified) on Wed, 2013-10-16 22:01.
I cannot help but wonder as to why it was necessary to write an
entire essay of nothing by 'chrisrushlau' concerning Israel and jews,
when the article clearly speaks about the Hamas, Hezbollah and Syrian
role on this ‘Love me, Love me not’ issue reflecting the betrayal of one
group by another.
Of course the writer may have wanted to write a book and the reflections he will receive (if any) on what he presented will determine his future as a commentary writer. That’s all I have to say on this issue..
Of course the writer may have wanted to write a book and the reflections he will receive (if any) on what he presented will determine his future as a commentary writer. That’s all I have to say on this issue..
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2013-10-15 17:01.
The definition of 'untruth' should become: Anything Elie Chalhoub writes.
Submitted by lidia (not verified) on Wed, 2013-10-16 18:37.
Given that Elie Chalhoub only cited what Assad had said, it looks
like anon accuses Elie Chalhoub in misreporting the words of Syrian
prez. I doubt anon has any proof of it. After all, it was a meeting with
another people as well.
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