By Glen Carey and Mourad Haroutunian | Bloomberg News The Arab League suspended its observer mission in Syria on Saturday as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad pressed on with a deadly crackdown against protesters in areas of the country
By Glen Carey and Mourad Haroutunian | Bloomberg News
The Arab League suspended its observer mission in Syria on Saturday as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad pressed on with a deadly crackdown against protesters in areas of the country where army defectors have been active.
The 22-nation group halted the mission because of “the grave deterioration of the situation in Syria, and the continuation of violence and exchange of shelling and shooting,” the Cairo-based body’s Secretary-General Nabil el-Arabi said, according to Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency.
More than 100 people were killed in clashes Friday, the bloodiest day since the uprising started in March, Al Jazeera television reported, citing activists. Twenty-five people were killed Saturday as security forces stormed and shelled towns on the outskirts of Damascus, Al Arabiya television said, also citing activists.
The decision to suspend the mission may add pressure on the international community to find a solution that halts the violence. The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday will discuss a transition plan put forward by the Arab League calling for a national unity government within two months to implement a peaceful handover of power.
“The Arab League looks a bit toothless in Syria,” Paul Sullivan, a specialist in Middle East security at Georgetown University in Washington, said in an email. “The Syrian regime has little time left. The clock is ticking. If it were not for Iranian and Russian help, Bashar would have been out already, most likely.”
Assad’s security forces have maintained their efforts to crush demonstrations even after the Arab League sent observers to Syria on Dec. 26. The monitors aimed to ensure Assad followed through on pledges to withdraw security forces from cities, release political prisoners and allow anti-government demonstrations.
The Syrian government’s use of violence is in “complete contrast to commitments stipulated in the Arab Action Plan and the Arab League Observer Mission’s protocol of tasks,” el-Arabi said.
Violence has “escalated” in the past three days especially in Homs, Hama and Idlib, General Mustafa al-Dabi, the head of the Arab League observer mission to Syria said Saturday, the Middle East News Agency reported.
The Arab League decision to suspend the observer mission came a day after the U.N. Security Council discussed a revised draft resolution calling on Assad to transfer power to his deputy. Previous language, which urged Assad to abandon power to pave the way for “fair elections,” was replaced with a call for him to hand over “full authority” to his deputy and for the “formation of a national unity government,” according to the draft obtained by Bloomberg News.
Eleven months into the unrest, the European Union and the U.S. have yet to overcome Russia’s resistance at the U.N.’s decision-making body to hold Assad responsible for a crackdown that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 5,000 people.
“Unfortunately, the draft that we saw today not only ignored our red lines, but also added some new elements that we find unacceptable as a matter of principle,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after Friday’s meeting. “The Security Council cannot go about imposing political solutions in crisis situations in various countries of the world.”
To mollify Russia, which says Western powers are seeking regime change in Syria, the draft underwent three changes. Previous language that urged Assad to relinquish power was replaced with a call for him to delegate power to his deputy, a move that could leave Assad the nominal leader even if he is devoid of powers, according to a U.N. diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
The ending of the observer mission and al-Dabi’s comment about escalating violence may be a blow to Russia’s efforts at the Security Council. Russia has repeatedly said reports of violence by Syrian security forces have been overblown by the media.
The Syrian government controls access to the country for journalists, and the death tolls cited by activists aren’t independently verifiably.
With assistance from Flavia Krause-Jackson in the United Nations and Nadeem Hamid in Washington.
