Panorama of week: Syria from national security to US State Department and Egyptian messages to Turkish presence in Libya

During the past week, Arab newspapers reported on the US moves regarding Syria, in addition to the Baghdad summit, as well as the Egyptian move towards Libya.

'American action around Syria and chaos in the occupied north'

The beginning of the Syrian issue, and in this context, Al Bayan newspaper said: "The United States of America began giving the Syrian file a space from its diplomatic movement, at the level of the US State Department, days after the bilateral summit that brought together President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Switzerland.

Rome hosted a meeting of the "Big Seven" and the "Small Group", while the UN envoy, Geir Pedersen, is heading to Moscow soon, in order to advance the political process.

Al-Bayan learned from informed sources that the US moves towards Syria coincide with its tendency to assign the Foreign Ministry to manage the file instead of the National Security Council, which means that the US agenda will include the Syrian file on its list of priorities.

According to the data, America is working on two parallel tracks. The first is an attempt to find a political solution based on Damascus' acceptance of United Nations resolutions, while at the same time threatening new sanctions.  On the other hand, chaos continues in areas controlled by armed factions loyal to Turkey, as a civilian was killed and a child was wounded when an explosive device planted in a car they were traveling in exploded in Al-Boghal neighborhood in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.

'Baghdad Summit.. Hopes for projects that end the dominance of Iran and Turkey over its economy'

Regarding the results of the Baghdad summit, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said: "Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi was keen to recall Iraq's identity at the opening of the tripartite Baghdad summit with Egypt and Jordan yesterday. In a tweet on Twitter, welcoming Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi  Al-Kazemi wrote that “Baghdad, peace and Arabism, receives today with all the kindness and welcome of its honorable guests.”

During the summit, the Iraqi prime minister stressed "the need for joint action in order to" consolidate and unify positions in order to work on the development path and develop the region and its peoples.

For his part, the Egyptian President said that his country is looking forward to inaugurating a new phase of constructive cooperation and moving together towards broad horizons of the extended strategic partnership aimed primarily at strengthening joint Arab action.

In turn, the Jordanian monarch called for strengthening joint tripartite cooperation to achieve common interests, which was also confirmed by the foreign ministers of the three countries "to achieve the best for the entire region."

While the convening of the summit reflected a disagreement within the Iraqi political and popular circles, between supporters and opponents, the dialogues and debates, whether through statements or through social media, reflected an interest in getting rid of Iranian-Turkish hegemony over the capabilities of the Iraqi economy through the trade balance that tends in favor of Tehran and Ankara at the expense of Iraq.

An Egyptian base on the borders of Libya: Limited options for the Turkish presence

On the Egyptian issue, Al-Arab newspaper touched on Egypt's inauguration of a military base on the border with Libya, and considered this as one of its limited options to confront Turkish influence in Libya and Ankara's refusal to withdraw its forces and mercenaries from Tripoli.

The base is scheduled to be a focal point and a launching point for providing logistical support to the Egyptian naval forces deployed on the Mediterranean coast, and providing the necessary information to secure the 1,145-kilometre long western land border with Libya, to activate dealing with elements that may try to infiltrate the Egyptian borders.

The opening of the new base on June 3, coinciding with the anniversary of the Brotherhood’s official departure from power in Egypt, sends many messages to the effect that this date will be released as its title and that attempts to implant the organization in Libya will be met with decisive Egyptian moves.

Observers went to stress that the opening of the base at a time when Turkey is trying to evade the withdrawal of its mercenaries in Libya is a sign that Cairo is doing its best to show that it is present and interested in what is happening on its western borders.

The military expert, Major General Hamdi Bakheet, confirmed in a statement to “Al-Arab” that the base aims to deal with any threat that comes mainly from the western direction, and it constitutes a continuation of other bases and concentrations in the northwestern direction.

The advisor at the Nasser Military Academy, Major General Adel Al-Omda, stressed that the new base aims to strengthen Egypt's influence in the eastern Mediterranean, which supports its desire to transform into a regional energy export center that needs a military force to protect it and advanced centers that provide support to the deployed forces, starting from the city of Rafah in North Sinai in the east.  West to Salloum.

In a statement to Al-Arab, the mayor pointed out that Egypt is working to diversify its military presence in order to fill the gaps that could pose a threat to it in light of the political leadership's reliance on economic openness in more than one direction, which requires securing promising projects, and providing a high degree of readiness against  Any external attempts aimed at obstructing development efforts.

The mayor considered that the indications of time and place regarding the various rules that are being announced say that Egypt effectively controls and controls all sources of threat, and the new rule comes as a continuation of the formation of a unified command that integrates with the leadership of the eastern Suez Canal region.

(A)

ANHA