Introduction to the evening news 24-01-2012

The arabization of the Syrian crisis has become obsolete. Nabil Elaraby and Hamad bin Jassem asked to meet Ban Ki Moon to receive the support of the UNSC and Muallem announced that as of this moment, no Arab solutions will be implemented in Syria. He accused some countries of plotting to internationalize the crisis. It seems that both parties are leaning towards making extreme choices. In fact, at a time when the GCC followed in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia and decided to withdraw its monitors, the Syrian regime decided to continue crushing protests; the Syrian foreign minister confirmed that the security solution is a popular demand and that it is the government’s duty to deal with armed groups with an iron fist. Between these two decisive choices, uncertainty is surrounding the Arab monitoring mission that will continue to operate temporarily until tomorrow, awaiting the final Syrian response to the mission’s extension.          

Yet, both Arabs and Syrians are counting on Moscow to make it till the end. The internalization of the Arab initiative requires the withdrawal of the Russian VETO, which is so far equivocal following the cold and ambiguous Russian stance on the new Arab plan. In the meantime, Damascus seems to trust the Russian position, as Muallem assured that Russia cannot approve of any kind of foreign meddling in Syria’s internal affairs. Muallem added that he sensed the “heat” of the Russian stance in his discussions with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.