Syria On Fire

By Svetlana Andreyeva

The two powerful bomb blasts that rocked the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday morning killing at least 44 and injuring over 150 others, were directed against local intelligence services.

The Syrian branch of the Muslim brotherhood claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The suicide blasts coincided with the arrival in Syria of the Arab League’s advance team of observers to prepare all the necessary facilities for the monitoring mission. The Syrian authorities were initially against the team’s arrival regarding the presence of an international mission as foreign meddling in the country’s domestic affairs. The Arab League, for its part, refused to see terrorist organizations and extremists lurking behind the ongoing anti-government riots in Syria. Lebanese political analyst Feisal Abd al-Satr believes that after Friday’s twin bombings the Arab League will find it hard to ignore the obvious:

“Many countries do not believe the Syrian authorities when they say that all this violence is the work of extremist groups… On the other hand, the deadly attacks are sending a clear signal to the Arab world that it is terrorists the Syrian leaders are actually fighting and need the people helping them in this struggle. What is also clear is that the West is trying to repeat in Syria the scenario of the war in Iraq and I hope that the Arab League monitors will be able to put a finger on this…”

In the wake of Friday’s bombings – arguably Syria’s bloodiest ever – one can only wonder why the opposition leaders were in such a rush to blame it all on the government, and here the Arab monitors will have to work really hard to get down to the truth.

“Euronews recently aired blurred images of riots in and around the city of Homs and the funeral of protesters, allegedly shot dead by government troops. What is really interesting here is that many in the funeral procession carried flags of the Libyan opposition, which recently deposed and killed Muammar Gaddafi,” says Vladimir Isayev, a deputy director of the Institute of Oriental Studies think tank in Moscow.

“Not one Syrian, pro-government or opposition-minded, will ever lead a rally under the flag of a foreign country. Meaning that the Arab observers will also have to end a full-fledged propaganda campaign being organized from abroad…”

Just hours before the Damascus bombings foreign news agencies reported, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group, that 111 people had been killed in Syria on December 20 alone, while providing neither office confirmation nor any factual proof of the above.

In Moscow political expert Sergei Demindenko is wondering who these human rights advocates really are. “As far as I know all we hear about is one and the same organization but who is giving them money remains anyone’s guess. And still everyone believes everything they say…”

The situation in Syria is becoming increasingly critical and begs for an immediate solution. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is certain on one thing – there must be no repetition of what happened in Libya – and calls for using the example of the crisis settlement in Yemen.

Russia, just like the rest of the international community, demands full respect for human rights and an end to all violence in Syria, Lavrov said, mentioning once again the Russian-proposed draft Security Council resolution condemning the use of force in Syria and also the tactic of armed provocations that have left more than 5,000 Syrians dead since early this year.