Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

50
Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basin Ozeti
seen his life improve enormously as the
war upended a social order in which the
minority Sunni population held the
levers of power. "Before 2003, 1 was like
a slave, and nobody knew about me," he
said. "Now I feel like I exist in this
world."
He said that he had "become a star
political analyst."
Sunni Muslims have not fared as well,
and many Iraqis expressed a sense that
sectarian tensions were worsening.
On Thursday night, Mr. Fadil, the tea
seller, sat at an outdooncafe across the
street from the mosque in Adhamiya,
which for months has been the site of
demonstrations of which he has been
an enthusiastic participant by Sunnis
after Friday Prayer. A row of armored
sport utility vehicles nearby indicated a
visit from the ruling elite that, with its
traffic-stopping convoys, its unkept
promises to at least keep the lights on
and the streets clean, not to mention
what many characterize as its corrup¬
tion, seems ever more disconnected
from ordinary people.
Mr. Fadil, a Sunni who said he used to
work in Mr. Hussein's secret police (he
was only a cook, he insisted, and never
carried a weapon), said he could not af¬
ford a house and was struggling to
provide for his wife and four daughters.
He said he used to earn extra money
cleaning the streets in his neighbor¬
hood, but then the government gave the
jobs to Shiites from other parts of the
city.
"The Sunnis are being neglected
here," Mr. Fadil said. "They are not in
the security forces. They are not in the
government."
In other words, he has more pressing
concerns than remembering a day he
would rather forget.
"There was nothing accomplished, so
why should I remember it?" he asked.
At the pet market, Karrar Habeeb, a
22-year-old carpenter, paused, sur¬
prised to be asked about what was
surely the defining event of his youth.
"I didn't know about it," Mr. Habeeb
said of the anniversary. "Are we still
talking about the Americans? I don't
think we need to do any kind of celebrat¬
ing or make an effort to remember that
day. I think even the Americans wish
they could forget it."
Yasir Ghazi contributed reporting.
. witEMnom
H*ralfcÉJl!Ê$rU>uitt march is, 2013
Syrian general bolts,
but reaction is muted
BEIRUT
Assad government goes
on political offensive
to shore up its position
BY ANNE BARNARD
A Syrian general who was in charge of
military supplies and logistics an¬
nounced over the weekend that he had
defected from the army after the rebels'
top military commander again called for
members of the Syrian armed forces to
join the uprising against President
Bashar al-Assad, now entering its third
year.
But after the officer, Brig. Gen. Mo¬
hammed Nour Ezzedeen Khallouf, an¬
nounced his defection Saturday, there
were no reports ofunusually widespread
or decisive defections in response to a
video address in English and Arabic re¬
leased Friday by Gen. Salim Idris. Gen¬
eral Idris defected in July andis now the
leader of the Free Syrian Army's unified
military command. Instead, Mr. Assad's
government went on the political offen¬
sive, calling on Brazil, China, India and
other developing powers to help stop the
Syrian conflict and find a political solu¬
tion to the uprising.
Protests across Syria to observe the
uprising's two-year anniversary were
small and muted compared with the ex¬
uberant demonstrations that initially
set off the revolt, underscoring the
growing sense that the war is nowhere
near an end. The government remains
dug in and is willing to use extreme
force, and chances for a political solu¬
tion appear remote.
The request for political support from
developing nations came in a letter de¬
livered by an Assad adviser, Bouthaina
Shaaban, to South Africa's president,
Jacob Zuma, who will host a summit
meeting next week of Brazil, Russia, In¬
dia, China and South Africa, the so-
called Brics nations.
As Europe and the United States
weigh stronger action to aid the Syrian
rebels, which could involve directly
arming them, Mr. Assad appears to be
appealing to the Brics nations' aversion
to Western military interventions.
Before the uprising, Ms. Shaaban por¬
trayed herself as an advocate for
change and modernization, but she has
rarely been seen since she offered her
support for the security forces during
the early days of the crackdown.
The uprising began peacefully, but
elements of the opposition eventually
took up arms after security forces fired
on protesters.
General Khallouf appeared briefly
Saturday in a broadcast on Al Arabiya,
an Arabic television channel based in
Saudi Arabia.
"Arrangements for the defection from
the currentAssad regime started awhile
ago," the general said. "There was coor¬
dination with several sides from various
factions ofthe Syrian revolution."
Anti-government activists said that
while his high rank was notable among
defectors, his departure would not
change things for the government,
which could easily replace him.
As the conflict continues, the Syrian
"Tjfii
*
DANIEL ETTER FOR THE NYT
Gen. Salim Idris, who defected in July, has
called on his former colleagues tojoin him.
Protests marking the second
anniversary of the conflict
failed to attract big crowds.
government has increased its use of
cluster bombs, which are widely banned
becausethosethatdo not explode on im¬
pact often wound civilians who find
them, the international watchdog group
Human Rights Watch said in a report is¬
sued Saturday.
In the past six months, the Syrian
government has dropped cluster bombs
156 times in 119 places, Human Rights
Watch said. Two recent strikes alone
killed 11 civilians, including two women
and five children, the group said.
Hania Mourtada and Hwaida Saad con¬
tributed reporting.