Syrian Press Lauds Arab Summit

The Syrian press has held up the Arab League summit as a success, ignoring criticisms of Damascus’s role in Lebanon coming from nations like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.



Half of the 22 Arab League member states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, refused to send their leaders to the summit in Damascus on March 29 and 30. They blame Syria for the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon, which sent no representatives at all to the event.



While the Syrian press acknowledged the lack of unity among Arabs, the coverage stressed the country’s role in building solidarity.



A March 31 story by SANA news agency highlighted reports from newspapers in Qatar, Oman and Jordan praising Syria for its leadership and its commitment to Arab solidarity.



SANA, which ran the opening speech of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in its entirety, indirectly addressed the conflicts between Damascus and several other Arab nations by emphasising how Assad’s speech pushed for Arab unity.



In a March 31 report, the government paper Al-Thawra highlighted the issue of solidarity as well and urged for Arab nations to overcome their differences. Al-Thawra also emphasised that the Palestinian issue should be central for Arab nations.



The Arab League summit did not make any progress on solving Lebanon’s political dispute, which has left the country without a president since November.



Ahead of the summit, Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Muallem expressed regret that Lebanon would not be attending, arguing that it would have provided an opportunity to discuss the domestic crisis. He added that Lebanon was primarily responsible for resolving its own disputes.