Syria suffers “deadliest month” in March

According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 6,005 people were recorded killed in the Syrian conflict in March, which they cited as the deadliest month in the two-year conflict. The opposition activist group reported among the casualties at least 291 women, 298 children, 1,486 opposition fighters and Syrian army defectors, and 1,464 government troops. The SOHR said it has documented 62,554 deaths since the uprising began in March 2011, although it assumes a much higher death toll. Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the SOHR, said many deaths have been difficult to document and both sides underreport their dead, so its estimate is closer to 120,000 people. The United Nations estimated the number of people killed surpassed 70,000 in February, but the figure likely doesn’t include government soldiers or pro-regime militiamen. The Syrian government has not released death tolls. The spike in deaths in March was probably due to increased government shelling and aerial attacks, rising suicide attacks, and the spread of clashes throughout the country. Fighting has continued in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Homs, and has intensified in Damascus, the capital. Additionally, opposition forces have overtaken towns and military bases in recent weeks along the Jordanian border in Daraa province.

Headlines

• Despite previously indicating that he would to step down, Hamas has reelected its exiled leader, Khaled Meshal, as its political head. Meshal is seen by many as the pragmatic option.
• The United Nations General Assembly is expected to adopt the first global conventional arms treaty Tuesday, despite opposition from Syria, Iran, and North Korea.
• Hamas has issued a new education law to take effect in September which mandates separation of sexes in schools and prohibits relations with Israelis.
• Turkey and Kurdish militants could face an impasse in last month’s negotiated ceasefire due to a debate over legal protection for the PKK during their proposed withdrawal.
• Saudi Arabian authorities have mounted a major crackdown on illegal foreign workers, of which there are an estimated two to three million, causing schools, offices, and businesses to close. 

Arguments and Analysis

The Kurdish Factor (Matthieu Aikins, Latitude Blog, The New York Times)

""We made the decision on Thursday night to help the rebels," said Sawoushka Ahmed, a local Kurdish fighter. She explained that there had been discussions about this within the group for several weeks, as its uneasy relation with the Assad regime had deteriorated to the point that the neighborhood would sometimes be shelled and raided at night. The Kurds’ hand may also have been forced by the rebels: Earlier in the week, I had spoken to rebel commanders who said they were preparing to take Sheikh Maksoud by force.

Whatever the precise motivation, the crucial question now – which the Kurdish fighters I spoke to over the past few days  weren’t prepared to answer – is whether the P.Y.D.’s shift in Sheikh Maksoud represents a countrywide change in the Kurds’ alliances. If so, it could represent a major development in the course of the war in Syria.

The realignment in Aleppo comes only one week after the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan announced, from his jail cell in Istanbul, a cease-fire between Kurdish rebels in Turkey and the Turkish government. The unprecedented truce is widely seen as the first stage in a deal between Ocalan and Turkey’s ambitious prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that would finally end the long-running Kurdish insurgency in Turkey."

New laws would cripple Egyptian democratic institutions (The Washington Post)

"THE OBAMA administration and other Western governments are increasingly concerned that Egypt’s shaky Islamic government will exhaust the country’s foreign reserves rather than adopt the painful austerity measures necessary to win fresh funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While the danger of an economic collapse is real, it is not the only threat the West should be focused on. Cairo is also on the verge of adopting laws that would cripple the country’s fragile new democratic order and drastically reduce the West’s ability to influence Egypt’s course.

Foremost among these is legislation that would regulate nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) – the building blocks of democracy. As in many other countries, Egypt’s independent human rights groups, legal aid societies, women’s groups and other organizations helped lay the groundwork for the 2011 revolution; now they are essential to ensuring that a free society takes root. Many of Egypt’s NGOs and nascent political parties have received funding or training from U.S. and European foundations, such as the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House."

–By Jennifer Parker and Mary Casey