Walid “Abu Kalabsha”

It is sorrowful what the al-Assad regime is doing, week after week, with a man such as the regime’s Foreign Minister, Walid Moallem. This was a man once known by the Arabs to be gentle and light hearted, just as he was renowned for being a man “as soft as silk”, according to what I was once told by a veteran Arab official who knew him closely, ever since Moallem was the regime’s ambassador to Washington. The sad failures of Moallem have continued ever since he threatened to forget that Europe exists on the map, and then insulted the Arabs and their League, in a language completely out of character, and this is attested by his friends and even his enemies. But Moallem was transformed suddenly, by the al-Assad regime, into Walid “Abu Kalabsha”, in reference to the famous detective in the well-known Syrian comedy series “Sah al-Naum”. Abu Kalabsha was the constant victim of “Ghawar el-Toshi”, played by Duraid Lahham, in his continual schemes against “Hosni al-Borzan”. In the series, Abu Kalabsha is distinguished by his nose for clues, which he depends upon. However, Walid Moallem – whether intentionally or out of coercion – has betrayed his political nose, in failing to anticipate the schemes carried out by the al-Assad regime, or perhaps by being a coward and denying their existence, even though he is aware of them. The latest of those schemes to befall Walid Abu Kalabsha occurred in the press conference last Monday, when he showed video clips of what were claimed to be armed terrorist groups in Syria! The great outrage was the fact that the footage shown at Moallem’s press conference consisted of old scenes of events filmed in Lebanon two years ago, bearing no relation to Jisr ash-Shugur or anywhere else, hence the story was fabricated. Of course the scandal also proved that the al-Assad regime is lying, and its Foreign Minister Walid Abu Kalabsha has fallen victim to its “shenanigans”. The regime has actually begun to embody the very district Abu Kalabsha was responsible for; a district where everyone looked out for themselves. The scandal of Walid Abu Kalabsha’s video footage proves once again that the al-Assad regime is not credible, or serious, in its response to the Syrian revolution, contrary to what some hope, especially the Russians. The bogus footage presented by Walid Abu Kalabsha undermined the credibility of the al-Assad regime and its media racketeering. This goes for both the Syrian pro-regime media and also some Arab media outlets that allow space for the regime. Walid Abu Kalabsha’s footage indicates that the al-Assad regime cannot be trusted with the promises it has announced internally to the Syrian people, or externally towards the Arab initiatives. This means that all those among the Arabs who want to continue to believe in the al-Assad regime or continue deal with it, providing initiative after initiative, should be aware of the fact that they will simply be another character in the series “Sah al-Naum”, which we all laughed at in the past. However, now it has become a black comedy, and we don’t know whether to laugh or cry.