Excerpts:Assad relies on Hezbollah support. New joint Arab force. Egypt
seeks help against militants May 26, 2015

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 26 May ’15:”Embattled Assad relies on Hezbollah
support”

SUBJECT: Assad relies on Hezbollah support

QUOTE: “Hezbollah set up by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 is fighting
today in Syria in placesit has not previously deployed

EXCERPTS:ALAMOUN MOUNTAINS, Syria/BEIRUT — When Lebanon’s Hezbollah first
joined Syria’s war on the side of President Bashar Al-Assad, its role was a
closely guarded secret. Today, as Hezbollah plants its flag in land won from
rebels north of Damascus, its role could hardly be more public.

And for Syria’s increasingly embattled president, Hezbollah’s help is more
critical than ever.

In the last week, the Iranian-backed guerrilla group has unleashed its
powerful arsenal to drive insurgents from wide areas of the Qalamoun
mountain range, a short drive from Assad’s seat of power in Damascus.
…………..
“The offensive, a joint operation with the Syrian army, is one bright spot
for the Syrian leader. Over the past two months Assad has lost more of his
country to a patchwork of groups.
……………………………………
Noting that “the situation is trending less favorably for the regime”, a top
US military officer said on May 8 he would look to the negotiating table if
he were in Assad’s shoes.

Yet the setbacks do not appear to have forced a change in strategy on the
part of Assad or his most important allies, Iran and Russia.

Tehran is heavily invested in a conflict.

Hezbollah, set up by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, is today fighting
in parts of Syria where it had not previously deployed, its leader, Sayyed
Hasssan Nasrallah, said on May 5.

Salem Zahran, a Lebanese pundit close to the group, says these include the
northwestern province of Idlib, where Assad lost an entire city in late
March.

Zahran said Damascus had responded by “drawing on its friends more”. “The
regime has become completely invested in the decision of partnering with
Hezbollah,” he said.

Syrian state TV, in its coverage of the Qalamoun fighting, has for the first
time credited Hezbollah for its role.

From Iran, there have been renewed statements of support for Damascus.
Reports of new Iranian financial support have helped the Syrian currency
strengthen from record lows it touched after the fall of Idlib.

The Syrian war has been a strain on both Iran and Hezbollah: Tehran has
spent billions supporting Assad economically and militarily. Hezbollah, with
a fighting force estimated to number many thousands, has been burying a
steady flow of fighters killed in Syria. The group says 13 have been killed
in Qalamoun.

For Assad’s opponents, the support from Iran and Hezbollah is a sign of his
weakness, not strength. They claim he has lost control to his allies, or at
least appears ever more dependent on them.

Opposition reports say it was divisions over the extent of Iranian influence
over fighting earlier this year in southern Syria that led to the demise of
Syrian official Rustom Ghazali. His death in unclear circumstances was
announced in April.
………………………………….

Zahran said Assad’s priority was to secure Damascus, “then the Damascus
countryside, then Aleppo ... because the regime feels that the Turks are
serious in taking control of Aleppo”.“The regime feels that Idlib is not the
goal, but a bridge to reach Aleppo”.

Despite the setbacks for Assad, Western diplomats are cautious about
forecasting the end of a leader who has consistently defied forecasts of his
demise in the four-year-long war.

Indeed, Assad may have capitalized on the crisis to galvanize some foreign
backing: “The regime’s attempt to hold together the alliance behind Assad
seems to have borne the desired fruit,” one Western diplomat said. — Reuters

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 26 May ’15:”Protocol drafted for new joint Arab
force”, Associated Press

SUBJECT:New joint Arab force

QUOTE:”new joint force to intervene in Middle East hotspots”

FULL TEXT:CAIRO — Army chiefs of staff of Arab countries have drafted a
protocol for a new joint force to intervene in Middle East hotspots on
missions ranging from fighting militants to Iran-backed groups.

The plan, drafted at a gathering of ministers Sunday[24 May] in Cairo,
describes where and how the joint Arab force would be put into action.

Membership is “voluntary,” the draft says, and if only three of the members
sign up, it’s enough to put the plan into action. A decision to intervene
would be based on a request from a member state “facing threats.”

The idea of an Arab joint force has already been tested in the ongoing
Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes against Shiite rebels in Yemen.

Defense ministers of member states would run the force, with two-thirds of
votes required to pass decisions. Military plans on engagements would be up
to the member states’ military chiefs.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter endorsed the Arab joint force plan and State
Department officials said that the United States was waiting to see the
exact structure and operational mandate of the joint force. — AP


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times26 May ’15:”Libyan tribes meet inCairo as Egypt seeks
allies against militants”,Reuters

SUBJECT:Egypt seeks help against militants

QUOTE”Egypt President Sisi sees the rise of Islamists in Libya as a major
security threat”:

FULL TEXT:CAIRO — Hundreds of Libyan tribal leaders met in Cairo on
Monday[25 May] with Egyptian authorities hoping to enlist their help in
preventing Islamist violence from spilling over their shared border.

Islamist militants have thrived in the chaos of Libya, a North African oil
producer that now has two competing governments backed by armed factions
that four years earlier joined in an uprising that toppled autocrat Muammar
Qadhafi.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi sees the rise of Islamists in Libya
as a major security threat and is trying to secure the cooperation of tribal
leaders to tackle it.

Analysts say that Sisi would like Arab states to carry out a Yemen-type
intervention in Libya to combat Daesh fighters and other radical factions
that have taken advantage of the lawlessness to recruit and train in the
vast desert country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri inaugurated the tribal conference,
which runs through Thursday[28 May], by highlighting the positive role the
tribes could play in restoring stability to Libya.

Egypt had invited the tribal leaders to talks because they were the
"backbone" of society and main guarantor of Libyan stability, security and
territorial integrity, Shukri said.

"Egypt will not hesitate to support her brother Libyans until they achieve
security and reconciliation among themselves," he said.

But achieving consensus among the hundreds of tribal leaders on how to
tackle Islamic extremism could be a long process.

Libya's two governments depend on various tribes and militias to support
their claims to power.

The country's internationally recognised government, which Egypt backs, has
operated out of eastern Libya since a rival armed faction called Libya Dawn
seized the capital Tripoli in August and set up its own government.
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA