EGYPT: Bid to Get Syria Off the Hook

By Adam Morrow Reprint | | Print |

Adam Morrow

CAIRO, Oct 27 2005 (IPS) - Egypt is engaging in intense efforts to ease pressure on Syria following publication of the preliminary UN report on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, fearing that possible economic sanctions could undermine the current Syrian regime and bring yet more destabilisation to the region.

Egypt is engaging in intense efforts in a bid to ease pressure on Syria following publication of the preliminary UN report on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

The UN report released Oct. 20 notes “converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement” in the assassination.

Egypt fears that any imposition of economic sanctions on Syria following the final report due Dec. 15 could undermine the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, bringing yet more destabilisation in a region.

“We have enough problems with Iraq, where civil war seems to be around the corner, and with the Palestinian territories, where the situation is far from under control,” an official was quoted as saying by the state press.

“Egypt’s role is to help facilitate (U.S.-Syrian) dialogue,” Egyptian foreign minster Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said in an interview on Qatar-based satellite station Al-Jazeera Oct. 23.

In an indication of the diplomatic importance of the situation, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met his Syrian counterpart in Cairo late last month in the face of growing U.S. pressure on Syria. The Syrian president reportedly told Mubarak that he would consider a compromise.

In return for using its modest influence with Washington on Syria’s behalf, Egypt is asking for several concessions from Damascus. These reportedly include cessation of Syrian support for violence in Lebanon, stricter regulation of its border with Iraq, encouragement of conciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Islamic resistance groups, and a cessation of provocative statements.

But Egypt sounded keen to take a position fundamentally supportive of Syria. Following the meeting between the two presidents, presidential spokesman Suliman Awad told reporters: “Egypt refuses to see Syria further isolated, and believes that the region needs stability, not another point of tension.”

Over the last few weeks Mubarak has met a number of other Arab leaders in an effort to consolidate an Arab position. Cairo hopes to work out a compromise settlement with as much Arab support as possible before the release of the final report Dec. 15.

Earlier, after a meeting Oct. 10 between Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan and Bahraini monarch Hamad Ben Issa, Awad had reaffirmed Cairo’s determination to oppose premature judgment of Syrian efforts to cooperate with investigators and the international community.

Days later, Aboul-Gheit told reporters after talks with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi that Cairo was working to “prevent the region from undergoing added tension.”

Just how successful Egypt’s mediation efforts have been is debatable. Given the heated statements from U.S. President George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, “it seems that the attempts at mediation have been rebuffed,” said Said. “But Egypt is determined to push forward with its efforts.”

Cairo’s position was spelt out in an editorial by former Al-Ahram editor-in-chief Ibrahim Nafie, who is known for elucidating the government line. “Syria is in dire straits, and needs to weigh its policies and actions carefully,” he wrote in Al-Ahram Weekly Oct. 20. “While Arab countries have little to offer Syria at the moment, should Damascus do more to defuse the crisis, they will be in a better position to help out.”

But popular opinion may not be in line with official policy. The UN report “confirms America’s intentions to undermine the Syrian regime, strike a blow against the Iraqi resistance, and weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon in order to fulfill its plan to dominate the Middle East and draw a new map after the fall of the Soviet Union and the events of September 11,” the independent weekly Sout Al-Umma said in an editorial comment.