Israel Matzav

Guess who advised Assad on handling uprising

The British daily Guardian has published emails from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that indicate that Syria sought advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against Assad's rule.

4.23pm: Here's a summary of events in Syria today:

Syrian activists have spoken of their disgust at the contents of emails sent by president Bashar al Assad and his inner circle after they were leaked by Guardian. "He was downloading iTunes songs while his army was shelling us," said an activist in Homs.

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4.23pm: Here's a summary of events in Syria today:

• Syrian activists have spoken of their disgust at the contents of emails sent by president Bashar al Assad and his inner circle after they were leaked by Guardian. "He was downloading iTunes songs while his army was shelling us," said an activist in Homs.

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3.50pm: Syrian activists said they were sickened by the Assad emails, according to Reuters.

"He was downloading iTunes songs while his army was shelling us. His wife was buying expensive things from Amazon, that makes me feel sick," said an activist called Rami in Homs.

A fighter from the rebel "Farouq brigade" in Homs said he took comfort in seeing Assad struggling to cope.

"One good thing is this is a clear sign that Assad realises the mess he is in," said the fighter, who calls himself al-Homsi.

"But unsurprisingly, as we expected, he really doesn't seem to care how many of his people die so he can keep his throne."

Few activists held out hope that the emails would have an impact on the many Syrians who have not joined the opposition.

"Nobody will hear about these in Syria. After tomorrow they will be forgotten ... Syrians are not reading much," said Ayman Abdel Nour, a former adviser to Assad who left Syria in 2007.

"The issue is that the Syrian government will just ignore this. They will not deny it or acknowledge it and people who watch Syrian state television will be oblivious," said Abdel Nour, speaking from his home in Dubai.

Abu Khaled, an activist on the Syrian border who helps smuggle wounded rebels into Turkey, said Assad's supporters were in denial and the emails would have little impact.

"Those who are in a fog will stay in the fog," he said. "They have no heart and this won't affect them."

But Samir Nasher, an activist from the Syrian National Council, an umbrella opposition group abroad, said Assad's reputation would suffer.

"I think this will decrease the esteem some Syrians had for the Assad family, which appears to have been living in luxury while the country bleeds," he said by telephone from Turkey.

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12.36pm: The Syrian government is furious about the leak of the Assad emails and appears to have tried to block the Guardian in Syria, according Rime Allaf, associate fellow Syria and specialist at the foreign policy thinktank Chatham House.

"I think the regime is annoyed to no end by this," she said speaking via Skype from Vienna.

Allaf, who was monitoring Syrian TV channels after the emails were published, described a government spokesman "excitedly" dismissing the emails as a foreign media conspiracy. "They didn't expect this," she said.

Immediately [after the emails were published] state TV was showing how easy it is to fake emails. They are very very annoyed by this and they want to immediately instill the notion of doubt in the mind's of their followers.

Allaf's contacts in Syria claimed the Guardian was being blocked in the country. But activists have translated versions of the emails online, she said.

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Key revelations

• Assad appeared to receive advice from Iran or its proxies on several occasions during the crisis. Before a speech in December his media consultant prepared a long list of themes, reporting that the advice was based on "consultations with a good number of people in addition to the media and political adviser for the Iranian ambassador".

• Hussein Mortada, an influential Lebanese businessman with strong connections to Iran, urged Assad to stop blaming al-Qaida for twin car bombings in Damascus, in December. He said he had been in contact with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon who shared the same view.

• Assad made light of reforms he had promised in an attempt to defuse the crisis. He referred the reforms as "rubbish laws of parties, elections, media".

• A daughter of the emir of Qatar, Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani, advised the Assads to leave Syria and suggested Doha may offer them exile. "I only pray that you will convince the president to take this as an opportunity to exit without having to face charges," she said.

• Assad was briefed in detail about the presence of western journalists in the Baba Amr district of Homs. He was also urged to "tighten the security grip" on the opposition-held city in November.

• Assad sidestepped extensive US sanctions against him by using a third party with a US address to make purchases of music and apps from Apple's iTunes. In a bizarre message apparently from the Syrian leader, he sent his wife the lyrics of a country and western song by the US singer Blake Shelton, and the audio file downloaded from iTunes.

• Assad's coterie continued to enjoy a gilded lifestyle insulated from the slaughter around them. They appear to show how tens of thousands of dollars were spent in internet shopping sprees on handmade furniture from Chelsea boutiques. A Dubai-based company, al-Shahba, with a registered office in London is used as a key conduit for Syrian government business and private purchases by the Syrian first lady.

• Assad forwarded a YouTube video to one of his aides that showed a crude reenactment of the siege of Homs using toys and biscuits. "Check out this video on YouTube," Assad wrote to his media adviser, Hadeel al-Ali in the week that Arab League monitors arrived.

It seems that Assad's advisers have no more influence over him than anyone else does. But it doesn't sound like he's going anywhere anytime soon. What could go wrong?

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:38 PM