Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days to Accept Observers
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Arab League on Wednesday gave the Syrian regime three days to halt months of deadly violence against its people or face economic sanctions, Qatar's prime minister said.
The 22-member League is "giving the Syrian government three days to stop the bloody repression" of its civilian population, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told a press conference after a meeting of member states in Rabat.
"But if Damascus does not agree to cooperate with the League, sanctions will be adopted against Syria," he said, when asked whether the League would slap sanctions on Damascus if it did not abide by the three-day deadline to sign a protocol on sending a team of Arab observers to Syria to monitor the situation on the ground.
He said that Arab patience was running out with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad after a bloody crackdown against demonstrators that has killed over 3,500 people since March according to the United Nations.
"I don't want to speak about last chances so (the regime) doesn't think it is being given an ultimatum but we are almost at the end of the line," he said.
"The Syrian government must agree to Arab League decisions and stop the bloodbath in Syria," he said. "We do not interfere in Syria's internal affairs ... but the bloodbath must be stopped."
Syria was suspended by the League at the weekend, and refused to turn up at the meeting, which was also attended by Turkey, its northern neighbor.
In a statement after what was labeled the Turkish-Arab cooperation forum, ministers declared they were "against all foreign intervention" but said it was time for urgent measures.
"The forum declares that it is necessary to stop the bloodshed and to spare Syrian citizens from new acts of violence and killing, and demands that urgent measures are taken to ensure the protection of civilians," a statement said.
"Ministers also stressed the importance of Syria's stability and unity and the need to find a resolution to the crisis without any foreign intervention," it added.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said "everything must be done to stop the ongoing bloodshed in Syria."
He said he hoped Arab moves to send observers to Syria would bear fruit within days, but reiterated that no observers would be sent before a clear agreement is signed.
The pan-Arab body had agreed to send 500 members of human rights groups, media representatives and military observers to Syria, which said it would welcome them to see the situation on the ground and help implement the peace deal.
As the ministers met, pro-Assad protesters attacked the Moroccan and UAE embassies in Damascus, officials said.
Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has become increasingly outspoken in its criticism of Assad's regime since the uprising began.
"The cost for the Syrian administration of not fulfilling the promises it made to the Arab League is its isolation in the Arab world as well," Ahmet Davutoglu told his Arab counterparts.
"It is not possible for any administration to win the fight against its own people," he added.
16 November 2011, 23:40
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And who are these illegitimate and despised-in-their-own-countries punks? Who do they represent? What past successes can they claim? How did they succeed? One is busy slaughtering the Kurs. The other is busy sending troups to slaughter the Bahrainis. The other is busy fumbling with his toes... These questions really do not need answers as answers are have been known for a lonnnnnnng time already. m3alla2in bi 7ibal al hawa
17 November 2011, 00:00
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He will not comply. He cannot risk having witnesses to his brutality. If they come and he pulls the army from the streets, he will lose the streets of Damascus and Aleppo to the protesters. If he does not allow the observers, they will choke him economically and politically.
He finally painted himself into a corner.
17 November 2011, 00:52
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These "towel heads" in the GUlf that have promoted this stance against Syria are a bunch of hypocrites. We see how well they took to the challenge posed in Bahrain. The massacres in Yemen, which is proportionally greater than that in Syria, haven't even received the attention it deserved. All these guys are doing the bidding of their Western whoremasters. It will take Qatar 2-years to organize elections but Syria is suposed to implement complex reforms and a constitutional overhaul in the blink of an eye!
Did they or do they really think that any unilateral action by the government of Syria would be successful without the oppositions cooperation? These guys won't be happy until they are once again under Ottoman rule and democratic principles and freedoms are thrown away in favor of a theocracy.
17 November 2011, 02:18
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What the majority of the Arabs don't want to talk about is the fact that contrary to what the Israeli and Iranian media publicize, Israel, Iran and the Syrian regime share the same bed. Israel is helping in the Syrian regime to survive and pressuring the west not to aid the revolution militarily. At the same time Israel covertly is still selling the Iranians advanced technology. The talk of Israel attacking Iran is only designed to distract the Arabs on whats going on. At the end of the day, the Shiite will prove to be the closest allies Israel ever had.
17 November 2011, 08:04
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the Arab league is exhausting all possible means with the Assad regime.
after this last trial, all the lies of the assad regime will not do anything anymore: no one trusts them anymore, and plenty of clear examples of continuous lies are at hand to justify what is coming :)
17 November 2011, 09:04
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Can someone explain to me how any country would dare to go to war with syria? Are these countries mad. Syria has more than 50,000 long range missiles that can reach any of the gulf countries including turkey. They wont waist their time flying their warplanes. Syria will just launch countless numbers of missiles to turkey. The syrian army is trained along the lines of hezbollah. It is a militia. Israel which has one of the largest armies couldnt defeat hezbolah. How do they expect to defeat syria. Its insane. Lebanon will burn to the ground if anyone attacks syria. Turkish civilians will be bombarded with thousands of bombs causing 1000's of deaths on both sides.The turkish thriving economy will come to a stand still. Syria is no child when it comes to its arsenal. It will do everything in its power to survive. Just remember the largest cities in syria, damascus and aleppo ( 7 million ) still are regime fanatics. Any foreign invader will be slaughtered on the streets in cold blood.
17 November 2011, 09:28
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The Assad regime has now destroyed Syria and the Alawites still think he is their infallible emperor. Rational Alwaites please speak up now or else.
