Syria faces international isolation as Arab world turns against Assad's regime!

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By Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent, telegraph.co.uk / 7:07PM BST 08 Aug 2011.

Syria is facing near total isolation in the Arab world after a series of countries withdrew their ambassadors in protest at the regime's killing of civilian demonstrators.

In what could yet prove to be the turning point of the crisis, opinion in the Arab world swung firmly against Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, for the first time since the uprising began in mid-March.

After months of silence, King Abdullah, the Saudi monarch and the region's most powerful potentate, set the tone by issuing a statement denouncing Syria's suppression of the protests seeking Mr Assad's overthrow as "unacceptable".

"Syria should think wisely before it is too late and issue and enact reforms that are not merely promises but actual reforms," he said. "The future of Syria lies between two options: either Syria chooses willingly to resort to reason, or faces being swept into deep chaos, God forbid."

Saudi Arabia announced it was recalling its envoy to Damascus "for consultations" and its two closest allies, Bahrain and Kuwait, swiftly followed suit.

"No-one can accept the bloodshed in Syria," Sheikh Muhammad al-Sabah, Kuwait's foreign minister said. "The military option must be halted.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8689695/Syria-faces-international-isolation-as-Arab-world-turns-against-Assads-regime.html

ARAB SPRING: In Tunisian Town of Arab Spring Martyr, Disillusionment Seeps In!

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By KAREEM FAHIM / nytimes.com / Published: August 5, 2011.

Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

Unemployed youth in Sidi Bouzid, where little has changed since Tunisia's revolution. 

SIDI BOUZID, Tunisia — It is hard to say for sure who took down the portrait of the revolution’s most famous martyr, Mohamed Bouazizi, from its perch atop a garish gold statue on the street where he set himself on fire, touching off a season of revolt across the Arab world. One man said unnamed counterrevolutionaries did it, and another man said it was damaged by rain.

Mr. Bouazizi’s neighbors say it was taken down in disgust, several weeks ago, after his mother, uncle and siblings left Sidi Bouzid, an act the neighbors considered a betrayal. Their anger stemmed from rumors that the family had accepted large sums of money to move to a fancy villa in Tunis. But more than that, they said they were furious at being left behind, in a place with no jobs, money or hope, without the famous Bouazizis to give voice to their despair.

“She abandoned us, and nothing here changed,” said Seif Amri, 18, a neighbor, speaking of Mr. Bouazizi’s mother, Mannoubia Bouazizi.

It is a measure of the deep frustration in Sidi Bouzid that a few people have lashed out at the town’s favorite son. That anger is misplaced, most residents say, blaming the lack of progress here on the transitional government, which has moved slowly to address one of the revolution’s central complaints — youth unemployment — especially here in the towns of central Tunisia, where the uprising began.

The bitterness here stands in stark contrast to a guarded optimism elsewhere in Tunisia about the progress of the revolution, and it threatens to undermine the gains: Several times in the last few months, disputes over jobs have led to deadly episodes of violence.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/06/world/africa/06tunisia.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

ARABIAN STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY: Embattled Arab leaders decide it's better to fight than quit?

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MICHAEL SLACKMAN & MONA EL-NAGGAR / The Hindu.

The calculation appears to be based on the short-term results of the Arab Spring.

Arab leaders facing public revolt have increasingly concluded that it is better to shoot to kill, or at least to arrest and imprison, than to abdicate and flee.

That calculation appears to be based on the short-term results of the Arab Spring. Those who have left, namely Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, face the humiliation of a criminal investigation, a trial and possible imprisonment. Those who have opted to stick with the use of force, like the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have retained power and appear to have leverage to negotiate immunity should they leave, regional analysts said.

“I don't think we're going to see rulers run away, like Mubarak,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst with the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. “We passed this stage. They will not run or abdicate. They will take their chances.”

The wave of Arab uprisings, which began with popular protests that quickly ousted entrenched autocrats, has evolved into deadly confrontations in Libya, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, with leaders willing to use sustained lethal force against a public convinced that persistence is the key to victory. It is a face-off, a test of wills, which has left thousands dead and opened a dark chapter in what was initially called the Arab Spring.

Each side has drawn lessons from the early days of the Arab unrest and the popular push for change. The leaders have settled on a formula that consists of three elements: limited concessions; a narrative that blames a third party, like a foreign nation or al-Qaeda; and security forces that are authorised to take any steps necessary, including shooting to kill, to get people off the streets. In Bahrain, officials have tried to recast the narrative altogether by asserting that the protesters started the violence, while the government has imposed what amounts to martial law on a majority of the population.

The next stage..............................................................................................................

‘Need to adapt quickly'..................................................................................................

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http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article1978467.ece

Obama seeks Polish help on Arab uprisings!

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AP / The Hindu.


U.S. President Barack Obama and Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski wave to the media as Mr. Obama arrived at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Friday. Photo: AP.

"What a wonderful visit. I’ll have to bring my daughters," Mr. Obama said as he exited the memorial. The monument in the former Jewish ghetto commemorates the tens of thousands of Jews killed in a 1943 uprising against the Nazis during Germany’s brutal occupation of Poland during World War II.

President Barack Obama is asking Polish leaders to use the lessons they learned from the fall of communism to help fledgling democracies in the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. Obama is in Poland on the final stop of his four—country, six—day European tour. He is meeting with Polish leaders on Saturday morning before taking questions from reporters.

Does Poland has that kind of influence in the Arab region?

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2056955.ece