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Lebanese Figures Close to Syria Regime Criticize Assad;

Egyptian-U.S. Writer: Saudi Arabia Instigating Strife in Egypt

Monday, 6 June, 2011 20:15

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MEMRI Daily: June 6, 2011

The following are reports published today from MEMRI’s Special Dispatch Series and the MEMRI TV Project: - Lebanese Figures Close to Syrian Regime Criticize President Assad - Egyptian-American Writer Magdi Khalil: Saudi Arabia, Not Israel, Is Trying to Instigate Sectarian Strife in Egypt - Satirical Video-Clip on the Hypocrisy of the Egyptian Media - Egyptian Security Expert Rushdi Ghanem: Britain, the U.S., and Israel Are the Great Satan of the World, But the Great Satan of the Middle East Are Saudi Arabia and Qatar Special Dispatch No. 3893—Inter-Arab Relations/Democratization and Reform in the Arab and Muslim World Lebanese Figures Close to Syrian Regime Criticize President Assad Recently, Lebanese figures close to the Syrian regime have begun to speak out openly against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. On May 23, 2011, Talal Salman, owner of the pro-Syrian Lebanese daily Al-Safir, published an article calling on Assad to end the violent suppression of protests in his country, to launch a sincere dialogue with the opposition, and to enact extensive reforms rather than merely paying lip service to them. Similar criticism was voiced the same day by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in his weekly column in Al-Anbaa, the newspaper of the Progressive Socialist Party that he heads, and in a May 31 article by editorial board director Sati' Nur Al-Din. It should be noted that on May 30, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah had met with President Al-Assad several times and that the two had discussed reform in Syria. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5347.htm. Special Dispatch No. 3892—Egypt/Democratization and Reform in the Arab & Muslim World/Leading Arab and Muslim Reformists/Inter-Arab Relations/Minorities in the Middle East Egyptian-American Writer Magdi Khalil: Saudi Arabia, Not Israel, Is Trying to Instigate Sectarian Strife in Egypt Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian-American writer Magdi Khalil, which aired on Egyptian TV's Channel 1 on May 22, 2011. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2958.htm. "The People Got Rid of the State Security Agency, but They Do Not Realize that Many Security and Intelligence Agencies are Ruling Egypt" Interviewer: "Last week, a conference was held, titled: 'Egypt After the January 25 Revolution.' It was attended by a very large group of Egyptians from abroad, including Copts." […] Magdi Khalil: "As far as I am concerned, this conference was of no importance. It did not contribute anything new. I don't know what they were talking about. Those who presided over it have no credibility – including Mr. Hani Aziz. If the government is serious about this, it must find genuine channels through which to deal with the Coptic issue, and to conduct dialogue with the real mainstream Coptic leaders, both in Egypt and abroad. The old methods of conducting a façade of a conference will not resolve the problems. In my view, this was merely for the sake of appearances…" To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5346.htm. Special Dispatch No. 3891—Egypt Satirical Video-Clip on the Hypocrisy of the Egyptian Media Following are excerpts from a satire on the hypocrisy of the Egyptian media, which was posted on the Internet on March 8, 2011. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2935.htm. "The Radio and TV Union presents:" "What Are the Transformers? Now You Will Know!" Egyptian journalist: "People, do you want us to give a damn about a bunch of kids? There's no need to blow things out of proportion. Let us do our job. You know what? Let them wait." To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5345.htm MEMRI TV Clip No. 2963 - Egyptian Security Expert Rushdi Ghanem: Britain, the U.S., and Israel Are the Great Satan of the World, But the Great Satan of the Middle East Are Saudi Arabia and Qatar Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian security expert General [Ret.] Rushdi Ghanem, which aired on Al-Alam TV on May 19, 2011: Rushdi Ghanem: "Britain, I'm sad to say, is breeding, training, and hosting terrorists. They come to Britain as refugees, and it provides them all forms of protection. Saudi Arabia and Qatar provide the financing, and the U.S., Britain, and Israel, provide the training." To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2963.htm.