Is Hizbollah leader committing political suicide?

Although Hizbollah might win the Qusair battle, Hassan Nasrallah will lose his political career in the long run, an Arabic-language columnist says.

If there is one thing enemies and supporters of Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah agree on, it is that he is not stupid. But the Arab people are not stupid either to believe his excuses for standing by the Assad regime in Syria, wrote Tunisian journalist Mohamed Krishan in the pan-Arab paper Al Quds Al Arabi.

In his most recent speech, Mr Nasrallah said that Syria is "the backbone of the resistance. And so the resistance cannot just stand by and watch its backbone falling apart ... otherwise we'll be stupid".

Certainly, Mr Nasrallah is not stupid. He knows that once the Assad regime falls, the "noose will be tightened around his neck, after it will have already put his ally to death", the writer said.

Everyone can fathom that, including Israel whose newspapers are commenting that Hizbollah is fighting for survival in Syria because the collapse of Bashar Al Assad will not only deprive him of the lifeblood that supplies him with weaponry, but could also spark a clash in his own surroundings.

No doubt the fall of the Assad regime would deal a crushing blow to the axis of Iran, Syria and Hizbollah. This is why Hizbollah elected to turn its back on the Syrian freedom fighters and stand by the regime, politically at the outset, and militarily when it felt that its survival was on the line.

In that sense, Mr Nasrallah was not stupid to back those without whom he would be disempowered and toothless. But, the writer commented: "I don't know why the Hizbollah leader supposed that we are the stupid ones to unquestionably accept that his Machiavellian option is in defence of Palestine against the US and Israel."

People are not idiots to swallow this when the regime Hizbollah is siding with has done nothing to reclaim its own land, never mind Palestine's, and has killed scores of its own people, Mohamed Krishan argued.

In the UAE-based Al Bayan, Omar Al Omar wrote that by opting for a short-sighted sectarian option, not only has Hizbollah lost all golden investment opportunities in the future Syria, but also all its pan-Arab credentials - a mistake that amounts to "political suicide".

Although Hizbollah might win the Qusair battle, Mr Nasrallah will lose his political career in the long run. Getting entangled in the Syrian conflict against people seeking freedom and justice runs counter to political reasoning and the logic of history, the writer noted.

Sectarianism has made Hizbollah blind - even to the extent of accusing the freedom-fighting Syrians of being sponsored by Israel, Al Omar said.

And yet, Arab tyrants, Octavia Nasr wrote in the London-based daily Asharq Al Awsat, "have fallen and will continue to fall like autumn leaves" despite Hizbollah electing to support Syria's tyrant.

Regime's flexibility is about buying time

The Syrian government will "in principle" attend the "Geneva 2" peace talks, Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem said on Sunday, speaking to the Beirut-based channel Al Mayadeen.

"Two developments could be behind this apparently flexible step from the Syrian regime," commented yesterday in the London-based Al Quds Arabi. "The decreasing odds of holding the conference due to mounting disputes between the sponsors, the US and Russia; and the growing split within the opposition over this participation."

Aware of all these disputes, the veteran politician Mr Al Moualem knows that attending the meeting is a great opportunity, because it will be a recognition of the Syrian regime by the US and European nations which have been repeating for the past two years that the Syrian regime has lost legitimacy.

The Syrian opposition is still adamant that president Bashar Al Assad must leave for it to take part in the peace talks - a condition that might not be approved by the sponsors if the conference is held, because this would mean the regime's delegation will not attend.

"The Syrian regime is manoeuvring and attempting to buy time and gain ground, especially now that the reports coming out of the Qusair front, where fierce battles are raging between the regime troops alongside members from Hizbollah and the rebel forces, indicate progress by the regime troops," the paper said.

Mosque move makes room for dialogue

If you walk by the Fittja mosque at noon and hear the Muslim call to prayer from its minaret, you might have the impression that you are in Cairo, Baghdad or Rabat, not in Sweden's capital, Stockholm, noted Iraqi writer Abdul Hussein Shaaban in the Sharjah-based newspaper Al Khaleej.

The Swedish authorities have given the green light for Fittja mosque to sound Muslim prayer calls at midday on Fridays, despite opposition from the right wing, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party.

It was an unprecedented move. Yet it did not get enough attention in Arab and Muslim nations, including those quarters that raved and ranted about the Danish cartoons insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

The Fittja mosque story deserves attention from those interested in dialogue among civilisations and cross-cultural communication, for it embodies the special relations between Sweden and Muslim nations, and could have a positive impact on Christian-Muslim relations.

Sweden hosts roughly 500,000 Arab and Muslim residents, who are treated on an equal footing with Swedish citizens, except in some limited areas such as voting.

Arabs and Muslims must build on the Swedish move to open new windows of cultural dialogue, the columnist said.

* Digest compiled by Abdelhafid Ezzouitni