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Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov find something to hold hands about after urgent talks on the Syrian conflict. |
"It took intensive and urgent contact between Moscow, Washington, New York, Damascus, Cairo and Jerusalem to more or less control the escalation. ... Despite the weaponry, the money and men sent to Syria to fight alongside the opposition, they were losing ground to the regime's forces. ... President Obama, according to analysts, was not convinced of the need for his country to directly intervene. ... It was at that point that Israel intervened, offering its services to the Americans. ... the Syrian president was right when he declared that the conflict may provoke an all-out war, but also that the major powers do not want a total war."
By Scarlett Haddad
Translated By Ruth Woodrow
May 10, 2013
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Throughout the day last Sunday, the region was on the brink of widespread unrest following four Israeli bombings in Syria. It took intensive and urgent contact between Moscow, Washington, New York, Damascus, Cairo and Jerusalem to more or less control the escalation - one which seemed inevitable. While no one can yet say what the future holds, we can, in any event, understand a little better what actually occurred.
Despite the weaponry, the money and men sent to Syria to fight alongside the opposition, they were losing ground to the regime's forces. The latter had effectively succeeded in regaining control of the road connecting Lattakia to Damascus via Homs which, in a manner of speaking, is the backbone of the country. Political research center reports were beginning to talk of the opposition crumbling in six months if nothing was done to help them. An Arab delegation lead by the Qatari primeminister [Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Than] accompanied by the secretary general of the Arab League [Nabil Elaraby] thus went to the United States to ask for direct American intervention in the Syrian conflict, but American President Barack Obama, according to analysts, was not convinced of the need for his country to directly intervene. He clearly expressed his refusal while exploring the possibility of sending more effective weapons to the opposition. It was at that point, they add, that Israel intervened, offering its services to the Americans. This Israeli gesture came as the Arab delegation proposed, from New York, a plan for a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through an exchange of land between the two parties. According to commentators, this in fact constituted a major concession on the part of the Palestinians, who thereby renounced the right of return and a substantial amount of the territory of Palestine.
This proposal was seen as a signal from the Arab world, after the tacit American green light given to Israel to launch raids on Syria. The Israeli aircraft took care not to enter Syrian airspace, preferring instead, according to some sources, to once again violate Lebanese sovereignty, to bomb four strategic positions around Damascus at about midnight on Saturday. The targets were Mount Qasioun, where Russian positions are thought to be sited and which faces the Presidential Palace; the seat of the presidential guard; arms and ammunitions depots, and finally, the Jamraya Research Center. All the targets were in the Ghouta sector, which essentially controls entry into Damascus.
These sources add that two hours later, opposition fighters carried out 40 or more attacks on several fronts in the same region with the aim of storming the capital, believing that they could take advantage of the confusion reigning within the army's ranks after the Israeli bombardment. The Syrian regime's Lebanese allies insist in this regard that there was clear coordination between the Syrian opposition and the Israelis. They present as evidence the interview on Israeli television on Sunday given by Hassan Rastouni, one of the opposition's spokespeople, in which he expressed his joy at the Israeli bombings, and added that, according to allies of Damascus, the Israelis had intervened at a time when the opposition was close to despair. On Monday the opposition was quick to disavow Hassan Rastouni, but in the eyes of the Syrian regime's Lebanese allies, the disavowal is a little late.
In principle, then, the plan was perfect. The problems began, however, when it emerged that the Syrian army was prepared and had quietly moved a good proportion of its forces and ammunition. They thus succeeded, according to the regime's Lebanese allies, in repelling the attackers, while continuing to advance in the Qusayr region and suppressing any attempted Sunni uprising in Bayda near Banias (former Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam's home town).