Damascus compounds its mistakes by spurning the Arab League deal

Al Qaeda bides its time during uprisings, Israeli plans to attack Iran are still unclear, and Abbas should consider dissolving the Palestinian Authority.

News from Syria does not augur well

The Arab League initiative, devised to calm the situation in Syria and stop the bloodshed, was clearly stillborn, said the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi in its editorial.

The bloody confrontations continued in many parts of Syria this week and dozens have been killed since the Arab-Syrian agreement was announced.

Damascus' consent to the Arab blueprint was nothing more than an attempt to buy time and appease the Arab countries.

The gap between the warring sides in Syria is still wide and mutual trust is non-existent. The regime, on one hand, is convinced that the violent approach is sufficient to crush the protests and contain the situation. The opposition, on the other hand, finds that dialogue with the regime is futile and insists on toppling it at any cost.

"The Syrian regime is committing a grave mistake, in addition to its past mistake of dealing so violently with the uprising, by continuing the killings and not responding fully to the terms of the Arab initiative."

The situation in Syria is quickly escalating towards more slaughters. While the world awaits new western measures to deal with Iran, which would influence the entire region, the confrontation in Syria will go on and it is the Syrian people who will end up paying the costly price of their regime's deadly obstinacy.

Al Qaeda's tactics in Somalia are worrisome

If Al Qaeda seems tranquil in Yemen recently, it is because it has opted to lay low for a while awaiting the results of the dramatic developments regarding the future of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In other parts of the world, however, the terrorist organisation has different tactics that include looking for new strongholds, suggested the columnist Mazen Hammad in the Qatari Al Watan newspaper.

In southern Somali, for instance, Al Qaeda has been moving to fill the humanitarian void by offering food and financial aid to drought victims in an attempt to win over hearts and minds.

Al Qaeda members' public appearances have been rare as of late, preferring to conceal themselves behind the successive event of the Arab Spring.

But their plans in Somalia are different. For the first time being, Al Qaeda appears in Somali territories under the guise of a humanitarian organisation.

"Observers explain such an unusual step as an attempt to support Al Shabaab who have their hearts set on ruling Somalia once its feeble present regime is toppled," said the writer.

Some analysts suggest that Al Qaeda has seen its powers diminished under the Arab Spring that didn't allow it to fill any transitional void, while others opine that the organisation is in a state of voluntary hibernation, planning future repositioning.

Countdown for an attack on Iran?

We still don't know whether the Israeli propaganda war on Iran is merely a series of test balloons to divert attention away from the intensified settlement wave in Jerusalem and the West Bank or the reflection of a serious Israeli plan, backed by the US and Europe, to attack Iran, said the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper in its editorial.

The Israeli threats to hit Iranian nuclear plants are not new nor unlikely since Israel deems any nuclear weapon in a Muslim country as a strategic threat.

The US administration has interfered on more than one occasion to prevent Israel from raiding Iranian nuclear plants during this past year, not because it opposes their destruction, but because it wants such a step to be taken at the right time and in the framework of an extensive international alliance. If Israel were to attack Iran on its own, it would conjure unwanted sympathy for Iran from the world and the Muslim world in particular.

"Iran's nuclear ambitions ... pose a threat to its dominance of the Gulf region that harbours two-thirds of the world's oil reserves. It isn't improbable that the concern translates into military action, especially with the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and their redeployment in various US bases in the Gulf."

The countdown to an attack on Iran may have already begun, but it would surely be costly for the attackers and the defenders alike, and mostly so for the Gulf region.

Abbas would do well to dissolve the PA

President Mahmoud Abbas should make good on his threats to dissolve the Palestinian Authority as long as Israel continues to ignore his position and persists in opposing the peace process, suggested the columnist Mazen Hammad in the Qatari newspaper Al Watan.

"I don't believe that President Abbas was wrong in resorting to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly," said the writer. "Israel didn't leave him any other option. But he would be mistaken if he were to remain in an authority without any real power."

In his entire political career until now, Mr Abbas believed in peaceful settlements and rejected all forms of armed resistance. However, his choices led to the ruin of the authority that has turned into a pawn in Israeli and US hands.

"In light of this surreal scene, Mr Abbas became disconnected from political life, frozen in a derelict position without any real value in the international arena," the writer opined. "He is called upon to muster his courage, change his position and immediately dissolve the PA, thus embarrassing Israel and forcing it to deal with the daily chores in the West Bank."

* Digest compiled by Racha Makarem