Main focus of Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Syria accepts UN peace plan

Annan has persuaded Assad to make concessions.(© AP/dapd)

Syria's government agreed on Tuesday to a peace plan put forward by UN special envoy Kofi Annan, which is also supported by China and Russia. The plan foresees a ceasefire and negotiations aimed at a political solution to the conflict. Despite the agreement of the government, President Bashar al-Assad cannot be trusted and the conflict is far from resolved, commentators write.

Assad can't be trusted

At last the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ceded ground, the liberal Financial Times Deutschland comments with delight, but goes on to warn that the dictator should be treated with utmost caution: "Assad now has two possibilities: either he is serious about his peace intentions and will implement the Annan plan, the details of which have yet to be worked out. In that case he must negotiate with the opposition, tolerate journalists in the country and above all order a ceasefire. Or he continues using his soldiers and police to attack the demonstrators and reaffirms the distrust with which he is regarded even by his loyal allies in Moscow and Beijing. For Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, are backing the peace plan. … Nonetheless Assad still cannot be trusted. It's conceivable that he's just buying time to save his position as head of state or even just his own head: counter to the demands of numerous heads of state and government - and naturally the Syrian opposition - Annan has not mentioned the possibility of resigning." (28/03/2012)

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Peace plan can reduce suffering

Although the peace plan has little chance of success it may offer the opportunity to reduce the suffering of the Syrian people somewhat, writes the left-liberal daily The Guardian: "The success of such a plan, in other words, depends on persuading both sides that it will allow them to set a trap for the other. It also depends on the outside powers continuing to feel that their purposes are served by such a process. Russian and Chinese obstruction has been driven by two perceptions, the first that it was not realistic to expect a rebel victory, even with outside aid, and the second that the United States should not be allowed to get away with another unilateral, domineering act in the Middle East. America, on the other hand, may feel it has gone too far out on a limb in insisting on Assad's departure without being able to compel it. If the plan falls, that would not be a surprise. If it, or something like it, succeeds, it will only extend the conflict in a new form, but one which might reduce its human costs." (28/03/2012)

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Syria dictates the conditions

By agreeing to the peace plan Bashar al-Assad has the reins in his hand once more and can dictate his conditions to the UN, the liberal daily La Stampa writes, complaining about the deal: "Assad has achieved what Gaddafi failed to accomplish because of the Nato operation. The Syrian president can now calmly turn his attention to the political side of the conflict. He has emerged strengthened and can afford to open up because the UN's six-point plan lacks the one point that would have met with resistance in Damascus: a demand for Assad's resignation. At the end of the day all the regime has done is to commit - and only on paper - to some not overly stringent conditions that will allow the United Nations to play the role of credible mediator once more." (28/03/2012)

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