News Introduction for Sunday 22-01-2012

“Prolonging the crisis or granting the Arab solution another chance?”, a key question that emerged from Cairo today along with the observer mission’s report, the Arab Committee meeting and the Arab Ministerial meeting.    

The committee’s report is reminiscent of the previous one given that it held the regime and the opposition responsible for the ongoing bloodshed. However, significant developments took place when Prince Saud al-Faisal announced that his “country will withdraw its monitors because the Syrian government did not execute any of the elements of the Arab resolution plan.”     

In another Arab country, the end of the story was different from that of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. President Ali Abdullah Saleh left after 33 years in power and after the 11-months revolution that swept his country.  He left for medical treatment, vowing to return.     

As for Lebanon, the Saturday Arida incident is still echoing while the internal Lebanese scene is haunted by the “ghost of cracks” following the collapse of the Fassouh building. While waiting for the elucidation of the mechanism for resolving this matter, the issue of the severe electricity rationing made headlines.