Morsi makes Assad regime his target in major speech

EGYPTIAN president Mohammed Morsi has given his first major foreign policy speech, calling on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime to step down and warning Iran against interfering in Arab affairs.

In a concrete example of Egypt’s new posture at around the time Mr Morsi spoke, the country’s state-controlled satellite company Nilesat stopped broadcast of three Syrian state channels – Syria, Syria News and Al-Dounia – from its network.

Addressing an Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo yesterday, Mr Morsi outlined the foreign policy objectives of his administration, more than two months after he took office as the nation’s first freely-elected and civilian president.

Mr Morsi said the time had come in Syria for “change and not wasting time speaking of reform. This time has passed now. Now it is time for change”.

“The Syrian regime must take into account the lessons of recent and ancient history,” he said in the speech in which he also talked of the uprising in Egypt.

Without mentioning Iran by name, Mr Morsi said there can never be any co-operation between the Arab world and neighbouring nations except on the basis of “a clear and candid declaration of respect for the sovereignty of Arab nations and non-interference in their affairs”.

His comments signalled an
attempt to reassert Egyptian leadership in the Middle East. Many Egyptians say the country’s role was diminished role under Mr Morsi’s predecessor, the authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak, and that this allowed non-Arab powers such as Turkey and Iran to gain influence in the region.
The president has placed Egypt firmly in the camp of Gulf Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia, which see Shi’ite and Persian Iran to be meddling in their affairs and a threat to their security. The United Arab Emirates, for example, accuses Iran of illegally occupying three islands it claims as its own. Bahrain says Iran is encouraging the Shi’ite majority in the tiny island nation to rise up against the ruling Sunni minority family for more rights.

Mubarak was overthrown in early 2011 in a popular uprising. Mr Morsi, who hails from the Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood group, has chosen foreign policy as the forum to make his first mark as president. He started off in Iran last month with a surprisingly hard-hitting speech during a summit of the Non-aligned Movement. He voiced his support for Syrian rebels against Assad’s “oppressive” regime.

Those comments took on added significance because they were made in Iran, Assad’s main foreign backer.

Mr Morsi continued in the same vein yesterday.

“I tell the Syrian regime that there is still a chance to halt the bloodshed,” he said. “Don’t listen to the voices that tempt you to stay because you will not be there for much longer. There is no room for further delaying a decision that will stop the bloodshed,” he added.

“It’s too late to talk about reform. This is the time for change. The Syrian regime must learn from recent history,” he said. He was alluding to the fate of authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen that have been overthrown by Arab Spring uprisings.

As Morsi was leaving the podium, he suddenly returned to the microphone to say: “Syria, Syria, this is the arena to do something”, pointing to the ministers below him, and then again saying “Syria” before stepping away.