Arab News Blog

Israel denounces plans for a major conference on a nuclear-arms free Middle East, and says it will not take part.
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Bahrain has barred an Al-Jazeera team from entering the country, accusing the channel of a “breach of media norms,” apparently in part due to a report on poverty in Bahrain. The report also speaks of a need for a reciprocity agreement between Bahrain and Qatar over media, so in part this may also reflect the traditional rivalry between the two countries.

Al-Jazeera, of course, has managed to offend practically every Arab country (other than its host Qatar) at one time or another.

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Top police officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would take part in an international policing conference to be held in Kerala this September.
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“”I refuse to be a part of your campaign,” says Maikey. “Stop speaking in my name and using me for a cause you never supported in the first place. If you want to do me a favour, then stop bombing my friends, end your occupation, and leave me to rebuild my community. I’m aware that my society has a long way to go in terms of human rights and social issues, but it’s my responsibility, not yours.”" (thanks Ryan)

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WRAP: 22-year-old Pakistani who took part in ’08 attacks that left 166 dead is due to learn his fate today.
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A 19-year old Palestinian youth taking part in demonstrations was shot dead this week by the Israeli army.
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Take the Iran Quiz at Countercurrents. (The quiz is based in part on a chapter in my Engaging the Muslim World, which will be revised and in paperback in August.

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Iran Sunday fired five missiles from its warships as part of the ongoing large-scale military exercise, dubbed ‘Great Prophet 5′, in the Persian Gulf and the Straight of Hormuz, the state-run Press TV reported.
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Lang at SST/ here

“…. the increase in American troops on the ground was very useful in many ways, but I continue to think that the essential development that “turned the tide” for a while was the serendipitous realization on the part of Iraqi Sunni Arabs and an emerging number of US military that the insurgents had little in common with AQI and that cooperation was possible. From that, all else flowed even unto the death of these two fanatics. Will that last? Look to the outcome of the recount in Baghdad for an answer. Is there an esoteric meaning to this talking “bidness” of the “Surge?” I do not know, but if the COIN campaign in south Afghanistan does not go well, will there be an appeal in the media and the WH (in that order) for more troops? Will Obama accept that apparent defiance of his orders?

And then there is the leading editorial in the Washington Post in which Hiatt says that “they” are not advocating military action against Iran. IM experience, when someone tells you that they are not doing or advocating something, then you should know that they are doing or advocating that. The WP editorial is part of the ongoing “full court press” by Israeli/AIPAC information ops designed to move American public opinion to acceptance of an AMERICAN air war against Iran. The Israelis know that they themselves lack the ability to punch this much above their weight. All that nonsense about Osirak and Syria is just that. Mowing your lawn and mowing the grass at Arlington National Cemetery are both grass cutting. but…

And then, today, there was Bruce Riedel (Reidel?) a once upon a time colleague. He was on the tube today to “answer for” Gates’ leaked memo about Iran strategy. I wonder who leaked that? (irony) Riedel insisted that Iran will inevitably attain some kind of nuclear weapon capability and that what Gates (and he) believe is that the US must begin to plan for the long term methods to be employed in managing that phenomenon. The well programmed and probably fearful anchors (Todd and Guthrie) produced all the usual objections; Israeli unilateral attacks, “don’t give up the ship,” etc. In spite of this, Bruce, in his usual humorless, stolid way, persisted in defending the truth of American interest and Israel’s limited capability. God bless, Bruce. pl

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In the National/ here

Syria has set up a new Iraq policy group to ensure its interests are safeguarded and that Iraq remains stable as US troops withdraw, according to officials and analysts in Damascus.

They said the move is part of an organised effort by the Syrian authorities to take a positive and active role in Iraqi politics, at a time when intense negotiations to form a new government in Baghdad are under way and with US influence there on the wane.

Saudi Arabia and Iran, two major regional powers bordering Iraq, have been a focal point for talks between competing Iraqi factions since the March 7 elections. Damascus, a crucial player in regional politics, is keen not to be overshadowed by Tehran and Riyadh.

“The Syrian government has taken a decision since the [Iraq] election to be involved in the establishment of the Iraqi government,” said a Syrian official, on condition of anonymity.

He compared Syria’s potential standing in Iraq to its position in Lebanon. Damascus has wielded strong influence over Beirut – controversially backing Hizbollah – and has played a central role in the formation of governments from the fractured Lebanese political landscape……

Critics accuse Damascus of playing both sides, stoking hard-line Islamist sentiment to oppose the US presence next door while trying to suppress the same trends at home.

As part of a diplomatic re-engagement with Syria, launched by the Obama administration, a series of US delegations have held talks with their counterparts in Damascus on the issue of Iraqi security, hoping to enlist them in stabilisation efforts. The Syrian government’s decision to set up a new Iraq policy forum is, in part, a response to that, according to the Syrian official.

“Our role in Iraq is not simply coming from a Syrian perspective, it is also a reflection of western and American requests,” he said. “The Americans and the Europeans have asked for our help to fix the situation in Iraq and to pave the way for a US withdrawal. ….Now Iran is involved in Iraq, so are Saudi Arabia and Syria. The time of America trying to put Iraq into its pocket is now over.”

The 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent regional developments, particularly the assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, two years later, placed huge pressures on the Syrian president, Bashar Assad. For a time there was even talk of a Washington-enforced regime change in Syria.

These hostile conditions gave Damascus every incentive to work against the Americans in Iraq, and to centre its strategic policy on the goal of having US troops withdrawn……

Damascus can also argue it is the only outside party able to access all strands of Iraqi opinion, with close links to radical Shiites, radical Sunnis and the various shades in between.

There are unconfirmed reports in Syria that the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, has given assurances that a personal rift between him and Mr Assad would be patched up were he to be re-elected. Relations between Baghdad and Damascus have been frozen since Mr al Maliki accused Syria of harbouring the insurgents behind a string of bombings last year……….

Negotiations are ongoing and have involved heavy regional shuttle diplomacy.

“This time the Iraqi government is being formed with a view to its place in the region,” the Syrian official said. “It is being formed in part in Tehran, in Riyadh and Damascus. But it is surely not being formed in the White House.”

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