What killed Yasser Arafat? France could find the truth

Flashback to 2004: Yasser Arafat, with his wife, Suha, while leaving his West Bank headquarters to travel to Paris for medical attention. Arafat arrived at the Percy Military hospital in Paris on October 29, 2004, following his unexplained deterioration weeks earlier. He fell into a coma and took his last breath there on November 11 the same year.

Πηγή: Gulf Times
By Clayton Swisher (The Guardian)
August 2 2012

The best opportunity to definitively prove What Killed Arafat – the name we gave the documentary investigation that appeared on Al Jazeera last month – is fast approaching. The lawyers of Yasser Arafat’s family are calling for the appointment of an independent judge to look into the cause of his death.

The Palestinian president had arrived at the Percy Military hospital on October 29, 2004, following his unexplained deterioration weeks earlier. He fell into a coma and took his last breath there on November 11 the same year. In our film, we interviewed Swiss scientists who had discovered that elevated levels of polonium-210 in biological stains had come from the clothing Arafat had with him at the hospital.

It is the strongest and only physical evidence to date that Arafat may have been assassinated. You can’t pick up radioactive polonium at the supermarket and it has no business being in anybody’s blood or urine stains in the levels detected by the Swiss. As death is an element of the crime of murder, it matters not where Arafat may have first come into contact with the nuclear reactor-made substance.

Arafat died in France, under the care of French government officials. His widow Suha and daughter Zahwa are both French citizens. Both are also possible victims of crime, especially 17-year old Zahwa, who was just nine when her father died.

This is why their lawyers have decided to take the matter further. This is possible because France follows the inquisitorial system of criminal justice. Independent judges beyond the whims of domestic politics and the Elysee’s sway may gather evidence on complex, major cases, including murder, where the ministry of justice or others have either declined or failed to investigate.

Independent judges can call witnesses and gather sworn testimony. What’s more, they can order Arafat’s body to be exhumed from its grave in Ramallah, dispatch law enforcement there and have the remains tested, to which Suha Arafat has publicly agreed. 

The investigative judge will maintain an evidentiary chain of custody of any new biological samples that could be ultimately presented before a court of law chaired by a different independent judge. This is beyond the scope of investigative journalism and presents the best possible hope for justice and real accountability ever being brought in this case.

Should the French elect to take on this historic case, there will be much to examine close to home. The first order of business is to probe the French military hospital and gendarmerie labs, which claimed to have destroyed over a litre of Arafat’s urine samples and blood vials in 2008 – after just four years – because no one had bothered to ask for them. 

Interestingly, more than 30 French medical professionals examined Arafat as he lay on his deathbed, including several who had a specialty in radiological toxins. They should be questioned next.

Gathering evidence in Palestine will be hard and requires co-ordination, though hospitals there may have retained some of Arafat’s biological samples from tests in his first 17 days of sickness. Unfortunately, what may have been a valuable crime scene – the two-room office Arafat lived in under siege – was razed and turned into a car park. Investigators should find out why. 

Doctors in Palestine, as well as from Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, who physically worked on Arafat and observed his condition should also be interviewed.

The bigger question of who has radioactive polonium and where it comes from must also be addressed, again, without the involvement of politics and with the co-operation of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A highly symbolic but less promising track is also being pursued via the Arab League, which has resolved to pursue a UN Security Council-mandated international investigative commission similar to the one that probed the death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

The Arab League secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, will raise Arafat’s case before the five permanent members of the UN Security Council when they meet in September. They had probably hoped they’d never hear from Arafat again, especially the US and Britain. It is highly unlikely either will keep their finger off the veto trigger and agree to mandate, finance and staff such a commission.

Which leaves the French, who will have to make choices quickly. Owing to the decay of polonium by half every 138.4 days, the Swiss experts say an exhumation of Arafat’s body must be carried out swiftly and according to procedure. 

For scientific integrity and international transparency, the French should also include the Swiss labs in performing corroborating tests. The polonium levels in Arafat’s biological stains – his toothbrush, sweat-stained tracksuit, urine-stained underwear and dried blood from his hospital cap – were noticeably higher but still very tiny.

If politicians continue to dither, there may soon be no polonium detectable in Arafat’s corpse as it decays into background levels naturally present in the earth. That means we will soon reach a point where knowing the truth is no longer possible.

In the past, France has often joined its Western allies in preaching to Palestinians about the importance of accountability and justice. A thorough and exhaustive investigation to reveal what killed this historic figure would present France and its legal system with a unique opportunity to demonstrate those values.

Clayton Swisher is a head of Al Jazeera’s transparency unit, and author of two books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Tricked" in Libya - Kofi Annan On Why Russia and China won't budge on Syria

Kofi Annan during his trip to Syria in March

Πηγή: Worldcrunch
By Nathalie Nougayrede (Le Monde)
July 9 2012

In an interview with Le Monde, Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria, concedes that his mission has so far been a failure. He speaks frankly about Russia and China, but also suggests more focus on Iran and others in coming clean on their interests.

Kofi Annan continues his efforts to broker a peace deal in Syria, with a meeting Monday in Damascus with President Bashar Al-Assad. In an exclusive interview published Sunday in Le Monde, Annan speaks with notable frankness about why his mission has not succeeded, including a lack of trust from Moscow and Beijing and not enough attention on Tehran's intentions.

LE MONDE: Syria has been plagued by violence for the past 16 months, and things seem to be getting worse. By some counts, there have been 16,000 deaths, there are 1.5 million people in need of humanitarian aid and 100,000 have fled to neighboring countries.

KOFI ANNAN: The crisis started 16 months ago, but I only got involved three months ago. We made important efforts to try and deal with the situation peacefully and politically. Clearly, we haven’t succeeded. And there is no guarantee that we will eventually succeed. Have we thought about alternatives? Have we put other options on the table? That’s what I told the UN Security Council, adding that the mission was limited in time and so was my own role.

The statement on “political transition” in Syria drafted on June 30 in Geneva doesn’t include a deadline. Doesn’t that give Bashar Al-Assad another opportunity to buy time?

We didn’t include a deadline in order to underline the fact that the Syrians themselves have to lead the process. We don’t want to impose anything, nothing unrealistic. A deadline can only result from negotiations.

You seem to be banking on Russia’s influence. What makes you think Russia has any incentive to “produce” a transition in Syria?

Is there an alternative? Russia, like many other countries involved in this case, has interests in Syria and in the region. If you agree that there are also common interests, in the medium and long term, then the question becomes: how do we protect those interests?

More than anything we must think of the Syrians and those who live in the region. I hope reason will prevail, at least regarding the protection of the interests of different states. In this case, it is in Russia’s and other countries’ interest to find a way of working together.

Is the most realistic scenario to have Russians push for a change in policy in Syria, while making sure that the security apparatus remains heavily linked to them?

Many factors are at play here. Events are created by many actors. Russia has influence, but I’m not sure events will be determined by Russia alone.

Are you referring to Iran?

Iran is an actor and so it should be a part of the solution. It has influence and we cannot ignore that. (Westerns powers refused to have Iran take par in the June 30 action group.)

What strikes me is that there are so many comments made about Russia, while Iran isn’t mentioned; and more importantly, few things are said about other countries sending arms, money and weighing in on the situation on the ground. All these countries pretend they want a peaceful solution, but they take individual and collective actions that go against the meaning of the Security Council resolutions. The fact that everyone is focusing solely on the Russians makes them very irritated.

The Syrian opposition thinks that the Geneva statement makes too many concessions, particularly to Russia.

It’s a shame that the opposition reacted this way. The Geneva statement was written by a group in which 80% of countries belong to the friends of Syria group (on July 6 they called for Bashar Al-Assad’s departure from power.) That’s why it’s odd to claim that the opposition was “betrayed” or “sold out.”

Without a real truce, does it make sense to have about 300 UN observers on the ground?

People say that the unarmed observers weren’t able to stop the violence, but that was never their role! They went into Syria to see whether both sides were respecting their pledge to stop the violence.

In Syria, what’s left of the “responsibility to protect,” a concept you helped create as UN Secretary General after the Bosnian war and the Rwandan genocide?

Honestly, the way the “responsibility to protect” was used in Libya created a problem for the concept. The Russians and the Chinese believe they were tricked. They had agreed on a UN resolution, which was then transformed into a process of regime change, which wasn’t the initial goal according to these countries. Whenever we talk about Syria, there’s that elephant in the room.

Can military defections, especially that of General Tlass, be a result of diplomacy?

We’ve been reading reports on defections and the most recent case involves a very important figure, but it’s hard to determine what triggered these decisions.

Arab League summit in Iraq discusses Annan’s Syria peace plan

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari (R) supported Kofi Annan’s plan on Syria at the Arab summit in Baghdad. 

Πηγή: Al Arabiya News
March 28 2012

Arab foreign ministers discussed a draft resolution calling on Syria’s government to hold talks with the opposition and to end the violence in the country as they met at an Arab League summit in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari at the summit said it is better for Kofi Annan’s plan on Syria to succeed rather than the conflict become highlighted again at the United Nations Security Council.

The plan by U.N.-Arab League’s special envoy Kofi Annan stipulates that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pull his troops and heavy weapons from cities before peace talks with his opponents.

A continuing Syrian army offensive is part of the regime’s efforts to overrun rebel strongholds as it tries to crush an unprecedented year-long revolt, which according to the U.N. has claimed the lives of more than 9,000 people.

“We cannot be neutral towards the daily killings in Syria,” Zebari told Arab officials at the summit.

“The Baghdad summit comes as an important step in light of the [recent] changes in the [Arab] region,” he added.

The Arab League suspended Syria last year and has in the past called on Assad to step aside to allow talks. But members are split over how to handle increasing violence that threatens to inflame the region’s complex ethnic and sectarian mix.

‘Saddam Hussein’s palace’

Meanwhile, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that Kuwait’s emir will attend the Arab summit in Iraq, hailing progress in ties and urging Baghdad to fulfill obligations for its 1990 invasion of the emirate.

Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah is to attend the summit on Thursday in Baghdad, in the first visit by a Kuwaiti head of state since Saddam Hussein’s invasion of August 1990, Ban said following talks in Kuwait City.

“This conference is being held in the palace of Saddam Hussein, where plans for the invasion of Kuwait were made,” Zebari said in a political reference to Kuwait.

“I urge Iraq to fulfill its longstanding obligations to Kuwait ... especially in regards with the missing people, Kuwaiti property, compensation” and maintenance of border marks between the two nations, Ban said.

The U.N. chief welcomed the “progress in the normalization of relations between Iraq and Kuwait,” adding that the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Kuwait earlier this month was a positive step.

Earlier, Ban and Sheikh Sabah held talks on the crisis in Syria, relations with Iraq and the Arab summit, the U.N. chief told a press conference in the Kuwaiti capital on his way to also attending the summit.

Friends of Syria' Ready Assad Ultimatum

Πηγή: abc news
By By MATTHEW LEE and PAUL SCHEMM (AP)
Feb 24 2012

The United States, Europe and Arab countries were set Friday to back a proposal for Syria's president to step aside and allow in humanitarian assistance to end a brutal crackdown against opponents.

American, European and Arab officials are meeting in a major international "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunisia to work out the details for their 72-hour ultimatum end the violence and allow in aid, which will be backed by as yet unspecified punishments.

A draft of the conference's final declaration also states that the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group of opposition organizations, will be recognized as "a legitimate representative of Syrians" and promised additional "practical" support for opposition groups.

"This conference will help the Syrian people, the revolutionaries, I think, they will give us the power as a national council, a political umbrella for the revolution inside Syria and I think they will push the international community to take good steps against the Syrian regime," Haithem al-Maleh, executive director of the Syrian National Council told journalists ahead of the conference.

Former United Nations chief, Kofi Annan, was also named to be a joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to deal with the crisis.

International action over Syria has so far been hindered by Russia and China's continued opposition to any foreign intervention in Syria.

Both nations say they support a "speedy end" to the violence, but they have vetoed two U.N. Security Council resolutions backing Arab League plans aimed at ending the conflict and condemning Assad's crackdown.

Alexei Pushkov, a Russian lawmaker, said Friday after meeting Assad in Damascus that the Syrian president sounded confident and demonstrated no sign he would he step aside. Pushkov warned that arming the Syrian opposition would fuel civil war.

In a statement Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry also called for "an immediate mutual cease-fire" to allow the wounded to be evacuated from Homs, and urged both the government and the opposition to take urgent steps to ease the humanitarian crisis. The ministry also voiced support for Annan's mission.

Western intelligence officials, however, say they believe Russia's patience may be running out with Syrian regime.

Tunisia's official spokesman Adnan Mancer said Thursday that Russia and China must "look to the future of their relations with the Arab world and consider what happens after Assad."

Diplomats said the meeting in Tunis on Friday would demand Assad's compliance. They said that failure on his part would result in tougher sanctions and predicted that his opponents would grow stronger unless he accedes and accepts a political transition that would see him leave power.

If Assad doesn't comply, "we think that the pressure will continue to build. ... I think that the strategy followed by the Syrians and their allies is one that can't stand the test of legitimacy ... for any length of time," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters in London after meeting about a dozen of her foreign minister colleagues to prepare for the Tunis event.

Clinton and others ruled out any overt, direct lethal military aid to Assad's opponents.

A draft of the Tunis conference's final document obtained by The Associated Press backs an Arab League plan that calls for Assad to turn over his authority to a deputy, halt all violence and prepare for internationally supervised elections.

The political transition would be akin to what happened in Yemen, where outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh quit in favor of his deputy after widespread protests.

The draft, which is still subject to change, also demands "that humanitarian agencies be permitted to deliver vital relief goods and services to civilians affected by the violence."

More than 5,400 people have been killed in the conflict, according to a U.N. estimate in January. Hundreds more have died since and Syrian activists place the death toll at more than 7,300. Overall figures cannot be independently confirmed because Syria strictly limits independent reporting.

Homs, Syria's third-largest city, has been under a fierce government attack for nearly three weeks. Government troops continued to shell rebel-held areas in central Syria on Friday, killing at least four people, activists said

To spur negotiations, the Arab League and United Nations on Thursday jointly appointed Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general, to be their special envoy to Syria with a mandate to bring an end to the violence and promote a peaceful political solution.

Annan will work on bringing an end to "all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis," the two bodies said in a statement.

American officials accompanying Clinton to the Friends of Syria meeting said the group would make clear to Assad that his regime has a moral obligation to end the shelling of civilian areas and allow assistance into the country. The burden is on Assad to respond to the demands of the international community, they said.

"The efforts that we are undertaking with the international community ... are intended to demonstrate the Assad regime's deepening isolation," Clinton said. "Our immediate focus is on increasing the pressure. We have got to find ways of getting food, medicine and other humanitarian assistance into affected areas. This takes time and it takes a lot of diplomacy."

Clinton met Thursday in London with Juppe and foreign ministers and senior officials from about a dozen countries, including Britain, Germany, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. More than 70 nations and international organizations are expected at the Tunis meeting.

Several nations have proposed creating protected corridors through which humanitarian relief could flow but it was not clear whether a consensus could be reached on the matter, as such a step almost certainly would require a military component.

Syria rejects new Arab League peace mission proposal

Activists have reported fresh government attacks on districts of Homs 

Πηγή: BBC

Feb 13 2012

Syria has "categorically rejected" an Arab League resolution calling for a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission to end the country's 11-month conflict.

The resolution, seen by the BBC but not yet officially released, also said the League was ending all diplomatic co-operation with Syria.

Damascus's envoy in Cairo, Yusuf Ahmed, said the plan "reflected the hysteria of these governments".

The plan comes as the UN General Assembly prepares to debate Syria.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, who has been sharply critical of the actions of President Bashar al-Assad's government, is expected to address the assembly.

The Arab League also said it would be "opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it", and urged opposition groups to be more united.

The League's moves come a week after a UN Security Council resolution on Syria, which would have endorsed a previous Arab League peace initiative, was vetoed by Russia and China.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Cairo says the new resolution contains the toughest language on Syria by the Arab League so far and makes it much more likely that the issue will return to the Security Council.

The fact that they are considering these moves shows the extent of the Syrian regime's isolation, our correspondent adds.

The Arab League decisions to halt all economic and diplomatic co-operation with the Syrian government may intensify the pressure and isolation for Damascus.

But the call on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to set up a joint UN/Arab League peacekeeping operation is unlikely to bring swift results.

Any such move needs a ceasefire which does not exist, and which Syria would not accept because it would put rebels and government on the same footing.

It would also require a consensus at the Security Council which is not there. But the League's decisions gave its members political cover for backing and financing the Syrian opposition. Syria already accuses some Arab states of paying and arming the rebels.

The appearance on the scene of al-Qaeda further complicates the picture as the opposition strives to appear peaceful victims of state oppression.

But, he says, it remains to be seen whether Moscow will continue to lend its support to its old allies and trading partners.

The League's resolution also formally ends the observer mission it sent to Syria in December. It was suspended in January amid criticism that it was ineffective in the face of continuing violence.

The head of that mission, the controversial Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, had submitted his resignation on Sunday.

Earlier, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri backed the Syrian uprising in a video message, telling the opposition not to rely on the West or Arab countries for support.

There have been reports that US officials suspect al-Qaeda involvement in two deadly blasts in the second city of Aleppo last week.Renewed bombardment

Meanwhile, fresh violence in the Syrian city of Homs was reported on Monday.

"Tank shelling has been non-stop on Baba Amro and the bombardment on al-Waer [district] began overnight," activist Mohammad al-Hassan told Reuters.

Following after a brief lull in fighting, at least four people were killed in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of the city on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights said.

At least 35 were reported dead on Saturday.

Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas on the city earlier this month.

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 have died throughout Syria since March. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".

Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is not possible to verify casualty figures.

UN, AL considering joint observer mission for Syria

Πηγή: The Nation
Feb 10 2012

UNITED NATIONS- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the new attacks against civilians in the Syrian city of Homs were “a grim harbinger of worse to come.”

Speaking to reporters, he said the United Nations and the League of Arab States are considering sending a joint observer mission to Syria to try to end the crisis engulfing the Middle East country.

“For too many months, we have watched this crisis deepen,” Ban said at UN Headquarters following the closed-door Council briefing. “We have seen escalating violence, brutal crackdowns and tremendous suffering by the Syrian people.”

The secretary-general briefed the Security Council Wednesday afternoon on the latest developments in Syria, where well over 5,000 people have been killed as a result of a Government crackdown since a pro-democracy uprising began in March last year.

“I briefed the Security Council. Many members expressed their views about the proposal. In the coming days, we will further consult the Council before fleshing out details. We stand ready to assist in any way that will contribute towards improvement on the ground and to the overall situation.” he said.

Ban said the Council’s failure to agree on collective action regarding Syria – last Saturday, Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution supported by the Council’s 13 other members – was deeply regrettable. The draft text had endorsed an Arab League plan to resolve the crisis.

“The failure to do so is disastrous for the people of Syria. It has encouraged the Syrian Government to step up its war on its own people. Thousands have been killed in cold blood… I fear that the appalling brutality we are witnessing in Homs, with heavy weapons firing into civilian neighbourhoods, is a grim harbinger of worse to come.”

The Secretary-General asked: “How many deaths will it take to halt this dangerous slide toward civil war and sectarian strife?”

According to AFP more than 70 people died in violence across Syria on Thursday, activists said, with the majority killed in a fierce assault by regime forces on the flashpoint central town of Homs.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 61 people were killed in shelling and other violence in Homs province.

He said 36 died in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs city and 11 were killed when a shell slammed into their house in the protest hub’s Inshaat district.

Abdel Rahman added that six people died in the city’s Khaldiyeh and Karm el-Zeytoun neighbourhoods.

Elsewhere, an army colonel and seven security forces members were killed when rebels ambushed two buses near the southern town of Daraa, cradle of the revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Four other civilians were killed including a young woman in northwest Idlib province and a man died of wounds he suffered the day before in Daraa.

Toppling Syria would undercut Iran's influence

In this Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 file photo, a Syrian woman, left, speaks with an Arab league observer, right, who attends with other observers a mass prayer for the people and army soldiers who were killed during the violence around the country, at the Holy Cross Church, in Damascus, Syria.

Πηγή: Desert News
By Charles Krauthammer
Feb 5 2012

WASHINGTON — Imperial regimes can crack when they are driven out of their major foreign outposts. The fall of the Berlin Wall did not just signal the liberation of Eastern Europe from Moscow. It prefigured the collapse of the Soviet Union itself just two years later.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad's Syria could be similarly ominous for Iran. The alliance with Syria is the centerpiece of Iran's expanding sphere of influence, a mini-Comintern that includes such clients as Iranian armed and directed Hezbollah, now the dominant power in Lebanon; and Hamas, which controls Gaza and threatens to take the rest of Palestine (the West Bank) from a feeble Fatah.

Additionally, Iran exerts growing pressure on Afghanistan to the east and growing influence in Iraq to the west. Tehran has even extended its horizon to Latin America, as symbolized by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's solidarity tour through Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Of all these clients, Syria is the most important. It's the only Arab state openly allied with non-Arab Iran. This is significant because the Arabs see the Persians as having had centuries-old designs to dominate the Middle East. Indeed, Iranian arms and trainers, transshipped to Hezbollah through Syria, have given the Persians their first outpost on the Mediterranean in 2,300 years.

But the Arab-Iranian divide is not just national/ethnic. It is sectarian. The Arabs are overwhelmingly Sunni. Iran is Shiite. The Arab states fear Shiite Iran infiltrating the Sunni homeland through (apart from Iraq) Hezbollah in Lebanon, and through Syria, run by Assad's Alawites, a heterodox offshoot of Shiism.

Which is why the fate of the Assad regime is geopolitically crucial. It is, of course, highly significant for reasons of democracy and human rights as well. Syrian Baathism, while not as capricious and deranged as the Saddam Hussein variant, runs a ruthless police state that once killed 20,000 in Hama, and has now killed more than 5,400 during the current uprising.

Human rights — decency — is reason enough to do everything we can to bring down Assad. But strategic opportunity compounds the urgency. With its archipelago of clients anchored by Syria, Iran is today the greatest regional threat — to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states terrified of Iranian nuclear hegemony; to traditional regimes menaced by Iranian jihadist subversion; to Israel, which the Islamic republic has pledged to annihilate; to America and the West, whom the mullahs have vowed to drive from the region.

No surprise that the Arab League, many of whose members are no tenderhearted humanitarians, is pressing hard for Assad's departure. His fall would deprive Iran of an intra-Arab staging area and sever its corridor to the Mediterranean. Syria would return to the Sunni fold. Hezbollah, Tehran's agent in Lebanon, could be next, withering on the vine without Syrian support and Iranian materiel. And Hamas would revert to Egyptian patronage.

At the end of this causal chain, Iran, shorn of key allies and already reeling from economic sanctions over its nuclear program, would be thrown back on its heels. The mullahs are already shaky enough to be making near-suicidal threats of blocking the Strait of Hormuz. The population they put down in the 2009 Green Revolution is still seething. The regime is particularly reviled by the young. And its increasing attempts to shore up Assad financially and militarily have only compounded anti-Iranian feeling in the region.

It's not just the Sunni Arabs lining up against Assad. Turkey, after a recent flirtation with a Syrian-Iranian-Turkish entente, has turned firmly against Assad, seeing an opportunity to extend its influence, as in Ottoman days, as protector/master of the Sunni Arabs. The alignment of forces suggests a unique opportunity for the West to help finish the job.

How? First, a total boycott of Syria, beyond just oil and including a full arms embargo. Second, a flood of aid to the resistance (through Turkey, which harbors both rebel militias and the political opposition, or directly and clandestinely into Syria). Third, a Security Council resolution calling for the removal of the Assad regime. Russia, Assad's last major outside ally, should be forced to either accede or incur the wrath of the Arab states with a veto.

Force the issue. Draw bright lines. Make clear American solidarity with the Arab League against a hegemonic Iran and its tottering Syrian client. In diplomacy, one often has to choose between human rights and strategic advantage. This is a rare case where we can advance both — so long as we do not compromise with Russia or relent until Assad falls.

Syria: LEAKED ARAB LEAGUE MISSION REPORT Reveals Media Lies Regarding Syria

Πηγή: Global Recearch
By Michel Chossudovsky

Feb 2 2012

Global Research Editor's Note

We bring to the attention of our readers the Observers' Mission Report of the League of Arab States to Syria.

The report acknowledges the existence of "an armed entity" involved in the killings of civilians and police as well as the conduct of terrorist acts, which in turn have contributed to triggering actions by government forces.

The Report refers to "armed opposition groups" as well as to the "Free Syrian Army", both of which, according to the AL Mission, are involved in the deliberate killing of innocent civilians:

"In some zones, this armed entity reacted by attacking Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the Government to respond with further violence. In the end, innocent citizens pay the price for those actions with life and limb.

"In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed. "

"Such incidents include the bombing of buildings, trains carrying fuel, vehicles carrying diesel oil and explosions targeting the police, members of the media and fuel pipelines. Some of those attacks have been carried out by the Free Syrian Army and some by other armed opposition groups."

The Mission also underscored to role of media distortion in the coverage of events in Syria as well as the campaign to discredit ithe Mission's findings:

"The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded.

The Mission also noted that, according to its teams in the field, the media exaggerated the nature of the incidents and the number of persons killed in incidents and protests in certain towns."

The Report also underscored attempts to discredit the Mission and dismiss its findings:

Arab and foreign audiences of certain media organizations have questioned the Mission’s credibility because those organizations use the media to distort the facts. It will be difficult to overcome this problem unless there is political and media support for the Mission and its mandate. It is only natural that some negative incidents should occur as it conducts its activities because such incidents occur as a matter of course in similar missions.

Also of significace were attempts by officials of AL governments to pressure several of the observers into providing "exaggerated accounts of events".

Some observers reneged on their duties and broke the oath they had taken. They made contact with officials from their countries and gave them exaggerated accounts of events. Those officials consequently developed a bleak and unfounded picture of the situation.

Also of significance is the fact that the Mission acknowledged that peaceful protests by unarmed civilians against the government were not the object of government crackdowns:

group team leaders [of the Observation mission] witnessed peaceful demonstrations by both Government supporters and the opposition in several places. None of those demonstrations were disrupted, except for some minor clashes with the Mission and between loyalists and opposition. These have not resulted in fatalities since the last presentation before the Arab Ministerial Committee on the Situation in Syria at its meeting of 8 January 2012.

While the Mission does not identify the foreign powers behind "the armed entity", the report dispels the mainstream media lies and fabrications. It largely confirms independent media reports including Global Research's coverage of the armed insurrection since April 2011. See Global Research's Syria Dossier

Exclusive: Leaked Syria observers' report details failings of mission

Πηγή: Stratfor
By Colum Lynch

Jan 31 2012

Some were too old, too ill for their task. Others quarreled over reimbursements for hotel accommodations or refused orders to carry out their mission.

Simply put, many of the 166 Arab observers parachuted into Syria on Dec. 24 to document the widening violence were utterly incapable of enduring the rigors of life in a country roiled by social upheaval and conflict, according to an internal account of their work.

"Regrettably, some observers thought that their visit to Syria was for pleasure," wrote Gen.Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa Al-Dabi, the chief of the Arab League monitoring mission. "In some instances, experts who were nominated were not qualified for the job, did not have prior experience, and were not able to shoulder the responsibility."

On Jan. 18, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby ordered the suspension of the organization's observer mission, its first major experiment in human rights monitoring. He claimed that the escalation of violence had undercut its ability to do its job.

But a confidential account of the organization's mission, signed by the monitor's controversial chief and obtained by Turtle Bay, shows that the Arab monitors were hobbled from the beginning by a shortage of equipment -- and by what Al-Dabi describes as a ferocious Syrian media disinformation campaign against the monitors and him personally. "The credibility of the mission has been undermined in the minds of Arab and foreign viewers," he wrote.

Still, the findings have become the focus of a diplomatic feud between Russia and the Security Council's main European powers -- which are set to debate taking more forceful position on Syria today. On Monday, Jan. 30, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, insisted that the Security Council receive a briefing on the report's conclusions. The Europeans, meanwhile have dismissed the report out of hand, saying the Arab League's mission was effectively a failure, and their report has nothing to offer the council to chart its diplomatic course.

Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's U.N. ambassador, said Friday that the work of the monitoring group has been "overtaken" by the Arab League's diplomatic efforts to secure Security Council support for a political transition in Syria.

At issue is a single finding in the 18-page report that recommends that Arab governments not relinquish their mediating role to the international community, a likely reference to the Security Council. European diplomats say the mission had no mandate to make such an assertion, while Russian officials say it would be irresponsible to deny the Security Council the right to review the Arab League's full account of what happened on the ground.

"The mission…sensed the acute stress, injustice and oppression endured [by] Syrian citizens," Al-Dabi wrote. "Yet they are convinced that the Syrian crisis must be resolved peacefully, in the Arab context, and not internationalized so that they can live in peace securely, and achieve the desired reforms and changes." That said, he is surprisingly candid and critical of the observer mission's ability to perform well the task required of them.

He recommends that the mission be reinforced with an additional 100 observers ("preferable young with military background"), 30 armored vehicles, protective vests, vehicle mounted cameras, and night vision binoculars. "Despite all of the above, the performance of many observers was excellent and deserves to be commended and appreciated," Al-Dabi writes. "It should be stressed performance shortcomings will be addressed and remedied with further practice and guidance, God Willing."

But the Arab League mission faced trouble almost immediately after the monitors arrived in Syria last month.

Syrian officials at the Jordanian border confiscated their communications gear, leaving them with only ten Al Thurayya satellite phones, and forcing them to rely on unsecure Syrian fax and phone lines. The Chinese embassy had to intervene to give them ten walkie-talkies to address a breakdown in the monitors' capacity to communicate with each other and headquarters. The observers, who were stationed in 15 areas of the country, also lacked sufficient bullet-proof vests or armored personnel carriers. Local rental car agencies refused to rent them cars after early missions led observers into the middle of riots.

"The government put in place a tight strategy to limit access to the core areas, and keeping the mission occupied with issues of concern to the government," reads the report. "The mission resisted this approach, and reacted in a manner that guaranteed the fulfillment of its tasks as envisaged."

In the mission's early days, thousands of pro-government supporters surrounded the mission's convoy in the town of Latakya, "chanting slogans in support of the president and against the mission," reads the report. "The crowds went out of control, and the observers were attacked. Two observers sustained minor injuries. Their armored vehicle was totally destroyed."

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem submitted a formal apology for what the report characterized as "these regrettable non-deliberate acts" and the monitors continued their work. But they quickly encountered a new problem. The monitoring mission, says Al-Dabi, did not have a mandate for addressing the widening scope of the armed opposition to the regime. In Homs and Daraa, armed opposition groups used "thermal bombs and anti-armor missiles" against government forces. "The mission was witness to acts of violence against government forces and citizens leading to death and injury of many. A case in point was the attack against a civilian bus which killed eight persons and injured others, including women and children."

The mission's international standing was also diminished by the selection of its monitoring chief -- General Al-Dabi, a close advisor of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Al-Dabi also served as a top military officer in Darfur, Sudan, at a time when the government was organizing local militia, known as the Janjaweed, that were involved in mass killings of civilians in the region. An Algerian member of the Arab team,Anwar Malek, resigned in protest, telling Al Jazeera that the mission was a "farce."

"What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people," said Malek. "The snipers are everywhere shooting at civilians. People are being kidnapped. Prisoners are being tortured and none were released."

Al-Dabi has not commented on Malek's claim. But the report notes that "some observers failed to honor their commitments and the provision of the oath they took. They contacted officials in their countries…and painted a very gloomy picture. This resulted in misunderstanding and faulty assessment by those officials of the situation."

European diplomats, meanwhile, have questioned Al-Dabi's accounts of events unfolding in Syria, including the observer mission's report on the killing of a French television journalist. Al-Dabi writes simply that the "reports of the mission already indicate that the French journalist died, and a Belgian reporter injured, as a result of mortar attacks fired by the opposition." But one European official said the report fails to mention testimony by other journalists traveling in the area that the reporter had been forced into the line of fire by pro-government supporters. "The account we received is that they were exposed to enemy fire deliberately," said one European diplomat.

As for the monitors, the official said it was clear they were being used and manipulated by the Syrian government to gain time to crush anti-government protesters and armed opposition elements.

Al-Dabi disagreed, arguing that despite its shortcomings the monitoring mission was vital to the country's stability.

"Any termination of the work of the mission after this short term will undermine the positive results -- even if incomplete -- that have been achieved so far. This may result in complete chaos on the ground given that [the] parties are neither qualified nor ready for the political process which aims at resolving the Syrian crisis."

US says Assad's fall 'inevitable'

Πηγή: Aljazeera
Jan 31 2012

The US has said the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is coming to an end, as Western and Arab nations push for a UN Security Council resolution.

Washington is seeking to convince Russia not to stand in the way of the Arab League's initiative, to be presented to the Security Council in New York on Tuesday, calling for Assad to transfer power to help resolve the crisis.

"Assad's fall is inevitable," Jim Carney, the White House spokesman, said on Monday.

"As governments make decisions about where they stand on this issue and what steps need to be taken with regards to brutality of Assad's regime, it's important to calculate into your consideration the fact that he will go. The regime has lost control of the country and he will eventually fall."

Damascus dismissed Western criticism and said it would defeat what it called foreign attempts to spread chaos.

"We are not surprised at the lack of wisdom or rationality of these statements and regret that they are still issued by
countries that are used to making the Middle East an arena for their follies and failures," the state news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.

"Syria, which is defending itself today against terrorism and will continue to do so, will be the exception which ... will
foil the policies of chaos adopted by these countries," it said.

Violence escalating

The comments came as fighting seemed to escalate on the ground in Syria, where activists said about 100 people were killed on Monday.

Troops battled anti-Assad fighters in the central city of Homs and in suburbs of the capital, Damascus.

The Local Co-ordination Committees said the majority of the victims died in Homs province, many of them in the town of Rastan, where the army shelled residential buildings.

Rastan has long been the scene of battles between armed opposition and government forces.

At the edges of Damascus, fighting subsided by nightfall on Monday as members of the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army (FSA) pulled out to the edges of the capital's suburbs, activists said.

Several civilians and six FSA members were reportedly killed.

Meanwhile, Nabil Elaraby, the secretary-general of the Arab League, and Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister, held talks with diplomats in New York ahead of Tuesday's Security Council meeting on Syria.

A new draft resolution calls for a "political transition" in Syria. While it does not seek military action or UN sanctions against Syria, it does say that the Security Council could "adopt further measures" if Damascus does not comply with the terms of the resolution.

Russia, which along with China vetoed a previous draft in October, has not explicitly threatened to veto the resolution, but has said the draft is unacceptable in its present form.

'Diplomatic muscles flexed'

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said she would travel to the UN for the meeting to "send a clear message of support to the Syrian people: We stand with you".

France, the UK, and Portugal are sending their foreign ministers to take part in the meeting.

A vote on the resolution, drafted by European and Arab members of the council, could come before the end of the week, diplomats say.

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey, reporting from the United Nations in New York, said that French diplomats were claiming that the resolution now had a majority of votes in the Security Council.

"All diplomatic muscles are being flexed here in New York in an attempt to win support for a resolution that is put forward by Morocco in the Security Council... But it comes down to China and Russia who have both expressed concern over the resolution."

As permanent members, both Russia and China have veto powers at the Security Council, so any binding resolution would require Moscow and Beijing to at least abstain from voting.

Earlier, Russia suggested to the government and the opposition that they should meet in the Russian capital for "informal contacts" without any preconditions.

Russia said Assad's government had agreed to talks, but a major opposition body rejected the offer.

"The resignation of Assad is the condition for any negotiation on the transition to a democratic government in Syria," Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian National Council, told the AFP news agency.

Lessons from Syria, Libya, Egypt. Tunisia and Iraq

Πηγή: Middle East Online
By Rami G. Khouri
Jan 25 2012

BEIRUT -- Two very different political trajectories were evident in Egypt and Syria at the start of this week, offering timely comments on the condition of governance and politics in two of the most important Arab countries. Egypt inaugurated its newly elected parliament in which Islamists of various colors took 73 percent of the vote, while Syria woke up to an Arab League decision to seek the removal of President Bashar Assad and form a national unity government that oversees new elections for parliament and the presidency.

The sharp contrasts between events in Egypt and Syria provide fitting bookends to the last two generations of political life in the Arab world -- as incompetent, exhausted and discredited political orders are in the process of being changed, largely at the instigation of their own people. These two cases can also be compared to a third -- Iraq, where an equally unacceptable autocratic government system led by the Baath Party was overthrown by an Anglo-American-led military invasion in 2003, leaving the country today in a sad and fractured condition of stress and violence.

Historians will long debate the four critical factors we see at play in these countries: the power and limits of domestic civil disobedience, the role of foreign armies, the impact of Arab League action, and the nature and consequences of Islamist politics that seem to inevitably dominate in liberated and democratic Arab countries. It is fair to say, I believe, that two verdicts among these four issues are clear: Foreign invasions to re-order Arab countries are not a good idea because they create lasting chaos more than orderly change (Iraq); and, domestic mass dissent to overthrow an incompetent and brutal regime and replace it with a more legitimate elected leadership is the preferred route to regime change (Tunisia and Egypt).

In between these two extremes are the cases of Libya and Syria, where the Arab League and foreign pressures have both played a role in the drive to unseat the incumbent regimes. More interesting than NATO’s military involvement in Libya, in my view, is the role of the Arab League in pressing for protective military action, which crucially paved the way for the UN Security Council to authorize NATO action. The Arab League is making even more robust moves in the case of Syria, including its monitoring mission and calls for the president to step down and pave the way for regime change by democratic vote.

The Arab League’s dynamism in Syria is refreshing and welcomed, in my view, but it is also perplexing. I am not sure why most Arab countries vote for such sharp intervention in domestic affairs of a member state when they know very well that this precedent could be used against them one day. It is strange to see calls for national unity governments and democratic elections by Arab countries that are mostly non-democratic and non-representative of their people.

Nevertheless, the Arab League’s actions are important in several areas. The fact that Arab countries are taking more responsibility for developments in their region should reduce the incidents of foreign armies coming in to re-order us, and provide political legitimacy for other actors -- including individual Arab and foreign states, opposition movements in Syria, the UN Security Council and other multinational bodies -- to play a role in ending the bloodshed in Syria and helping that country find its way forward to a more humane and effective governance system.

The practical logistics of how Arab and international parties can play a role in protecting Syrian civilians while promoting a democratic transition remain hotly debated, but should be clarified in the coming weeks if the Syrian opposition groups take the lead in asking for such intervention to protect civilians and speed up the democratic transition.

The fourth dramatic trend we witness these days -- the dominance of political systems by elected Islamists -- remains a purely domestic issue that Arab countries have to experience and judge. The incumbent Islamists are now subjected to the two great forces that make democracy so attractive to so many people across the world: legitimacy and accountability. More and more Arab countries are now experiencing that which they have always demanded: the ability to manage their own affairs without external interference.

The main lesson we can draw for now seems to me to be that self-determination and democratic transitions achieved through legitimate popular revolt are likely to lead to stable governance systems, while upheavals and change generated by invading foreign armies or engineered coups will only lead to continued instability, because they lack the critical elements of legitimacy and accountability. We should keep our eyes on those two factors as deliberations continue on Arab and international intervention in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, and other Arab lands to follow in due course.

Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.

In fog of Syria, observers can't tell what they are seeing

Observers from the Arab League receive a hero's welcome in the Syrian town of Zabadani. The tone of the visit later changed. 

Πηγή: LATimes
By Alexandra Zavis
16 Jan 2012

A team of Arab League observers is warmly greeted in one town, but the desperate crowd later becomes hostile. The observers flee, and bullets fly, but who is firing?

Reporting from Zabadani, Syria— When observers from the Arab League drove into this mountain town in southwestern Syria, a hotbed of dissent against President Bashar Assad, they received a hero's welcome.

Residents mobbed the observers' car, clamored to tell of their plight, and carried one of them away on their shoulders in celebration.

But just hours later, the five league representatives sped away under a hail of bullets. It was impossible to determine who was doing the shooting.

The episode Sunday was a rare, unsettling glimpse into the spiraling conflict that is threatening to plunge Syria into civil war and the challenges faced by about 160 monitors who are trying to verify wildly divergent versions of events under sometimes dangerous conditions.

Opposition activists and even some monitors have already declared the monthlong mission a failure, saying it was not given the time, the resources or the independence to determine whether the government is fulfilling its pledge to end a military crackdown that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives since March. The government disputes the figures and says most of the casualties have been members of the security forces, who they charge are being targeted by foreign-backed terrorists.

In better times, Zabadani, a scenic town near the border with Lebanon, was famous for its cherry, apricot and apple orchards, and for the gracious summer homes built by members of the Syrian elite and wealthy visitors from the Persian Gulf.

Residents said that on Friday security forces surrounded the town and began pummeling them with tank rounds and gunfire.

"Kids are dying here and we can't take them to the hospital," one man said Sunday. "We've been three days without electricity or water."

The five monitors, including representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, were dispatched to investigate what was happening.

Syrian officials, who are responsible for the mission's security, informed the team that explosive devices had been found on the road to Zabadani and urged them not to go. If the observers insisted, they said, their security escort could not accompany them into the town, which residents acknowledge is defended by military defectors fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.

It was not the first time they were presented with such a choice, the observers said. In some cases, they decided against a visit. This time they said they would see how far they could get on their own.

"With these things, we never know if it's a real threat or they are just trying to keep us away," one said. Like others interviewed, he asked not to be identified because the league has instructed the monitors not to speak to journalists.

They set off from Damascus in a speeding convoy full of armed security force members. Less than half an hour from the bustling streets of the capital, they entered an area that looked and felt like a front line in a war.

The road emptied of traffic and checkpoints dotted the way, manned by grim-looking officers in helmets and flak jackets with the occasional armored vehicle. About 15 miles outside Zabadani, the security escort peeled off. A car carrying the observers pressed on, stopping every few miles to ask residents and security force members what lay ahead.

At a checkpoint about 10 miles from Zabadani, an anti-riot police officer led the observers up a muddy path to a stable yard, to show them what he said were several recovered roadside bombs. They photographed what appeared to be rusty fuel canisters with wires attached.

"Where are the detonators?" an observer asked. The officer said he was not an engineer, but thought the canisters contained explosives.

As they got closer, the monitors came across families fleeing on foot and in cars with little or no luggage. Asked whether there was trouble ahead, a woman in a long black coat snapped back, "If there weren't trouble, we wouldn't be escaping."

"We are walking now in the street and we don't know where we are going," said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Aisha, for fear of retribution.

The town appeared eerily deserted until the observers turned down a narrow street dubbed "Free Syria" in bold black graffiti on a wall. Young men raced into the road to clear away an improvised checkpoint and lead the vehicles to a small square where hundreds of people were waiting for them. The crowd erupted in cheers and chants.

Frantic men and women surrounded the vehicles, eager to tell their stories. Some carried photographs of the dead.

"My uncle was released from prison and shot the same day," said a 12-year-old boy, who elbowed his way to the front of the crowd.

A 60-year-old man lifted his shirt to show what appeared to be burn marks on his stomach. "They arrested me and my son and four of my cousins," he said. "This is from the electric shocks."

In all, residents said, security forces had killed 14 people, injured 350 and detained 568 in a town of about 30,000 people since March.

"Till now they are around Zabadani," said a bearded 67-year-old man, who said he was arrested with three sons. "They only left because of you and after an hour they will be back."

Residents said they had been without water, electricity or phone service for three days. Leading the monitors to the edge of town, they pointed down a road where six armored vehicles could be seen in the distance. Go and look, they said, the security forces are hiding tanks in the bushes.

When the observers demurred and said they needed to leave, elements of the crowd started kicking and stoning their vehicle.

An elderly woman, her face framed by a dark scarf, leaned into the window of a journalist's car and screamed: "They are slaughtering us. Protect us, for God's sake."

Afraid their car was about to be overturned, the observers sped off into the no man's land between the town and the government checkpoint, a stretch of road less than a mile long littered with spent bullet casings. They approached carefully, exiting the vehicle and waving their distinctive orange vests in the air before getting too close to the government forces.

After several anxious moments, they were waved forward but then told there were suspicious wires in the road ahead and they could go no farther. Men who said they belonged to the anti-riot police dragged out the body of a colleague who they said had just been killed by armed gangs.

"This is the freedom they want?" an officer hollered. Others raised their guns and chanted, "Bashar, we sacrifice our souls and blood for you."

When the observers asked about an approaching tank, the senior officer insisted: "It's not a tank.... There's a field hospital inside."

They were held up at the checkpoint for an hour and a half as occasional gunfire cracked nearby. The officer held up his radio so the observers could hear colleagues at another checkpoint saying they were taking fire. Eventually, they were told that the army was on its way to "rescue" them.

When they were finally led away by an armored personnel carrier, there was an eruption of gunfire. Bullets zinged past the car windows, but it was not clear where they were coming from or who was the intended target. Another tank rolled by, headed to Zabadani.

By the time the members of the team reached their hotel, residents were calling their cellphones to report that the town was being shelled.

One observer said it felt as though the whole episode had been staged, but he could not say by whom. Did the townspeople push them forward to provide cover for an attack by the Free Syrian Army? Or were the security forces using them as an excuse to send in the army?

"We may never know what were the exact circumstances," he said.

Qatar Favors Military Intervention in Syria

Πηγή: israelnationalnews
By Elad Benari
Jan 15 2012

Qatar favors sending Arab forces into Syria to stop the deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests, AFP reported on Saturday.

According to the report, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said in an interview with CBS to air Sunday that he favors dispatching Arab troops to Syria to “stop the killing” that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives since March.

The interview, which will air on the 60 Minutes program, is the first public call by an Arab leader for an Arab military presence in Syria.

“For such a situation to stop the killing ... some troops should go to stop the killing,” Sheikh Hamad was quoted as having replied when asked whether he supports Arab intervention.

The interview with Sheikh Hamad, excerpts of which were sent to AFP by CBS, comes amid increasing concern that the Arab League’s mission to monitor conditions on the ground in Syria was failing.

On Thursday it was reported that the League is rethinking its observer mission and may decide to pull its monitors from the country altogether.

An attack on observers Monday in the city of Latakiya made it increasingly unlikely the League would send any more monitors to the country, sources said, "until the situation is suitable" for them to return.

Meanwhile, the League is set to review the work of its Syria monitoring mission later this month.

“There is an overall reassessment of the work of the observer mission which we will discuss at the next ministerial meeting to be held in Cairo on Saturday, January 21,” League chief Nabil Elaraby told AFP on Saturday. “There has been partial progress until now but there is daily bloodshed in Syria that the League aims to end.”

On Friday, Elaraby warned that Syria may be sliding toward civil war, as President Bashar Assad’s regime was either not complying or only partially complying with an Arab League plan that Syria signed last month to end its crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

Egypt’s official MENA news agency quoted Elaraby as having said on Saturday, “The Arab League general secretariat is now examining whether it would be beneficial for the mission to pursue its work in light of the continuing violence.”

Syria: Arab League chief says Assad's regime pulled out tanks from cities

Syrian security forces walk towards anti-regime protesters in Homs

Πηγή: The Telegraph
Jan 2 2012

Syria's government has withdrawn heavy weapons from inside cities and freed about 3,500 prisoners but security forces continue to kill protesters even with foreign monitors in the country, the Arab League chief said on Monday.

Nabil Elaraby said pro-regime snipers also continue to operate in Syria and he demanded a complete ceasefire. But despite the regime's ongoing crackdown, he listed the achievements of the Arab League monitors since they began work.

The monitors are supposed to verify Syria's compliance with an Arab League plan to stop the 9-month-old crackdown on dissent. President Bashar al-Assad agreed to the plan on Dec 19.

But since the Arab League monitors began work last Tuesday, activists say government forces have killed more than 150 people, the vast majority of them unarmed, peaceful protesters.

"Yes, there is still shooting and yes there are still snipers," Mr Elaraby told a news conference in Cairo, where the Arab League is based. "Yes, killings continue. The objective is for us to wake up in the morning and hear that no one is killed. The mission's philosophy is to protect civilians, so if one is killed, then our mission is incomplete."

"There must be a complete ceasefire," Elaraby said.

But he also said tanks and artillery have been pulled out from cities and residential neighbourhood, food supplies reached residents and bodies of dead protesters recovered.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed that tanks had withdrawn from Syrian cities. But he said residents reported that the weapons were still a threat.

"They can bring the tanks back and use them to fight," Mr Abdul-Rahman told The Associated Press.

Mr Elaraby did not say when the heavy weapons pulled out of cities, but Abdul-Rahman said it was on Thursday.

The Arab League plan requires Assad's regime to remove security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders, free political prisoners and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country.

Already, Syrian opposition groups and a pan-Arab group, the Arab Parliament, have been deeply critical of the mission, saying it is simply giving Assad cover for his crackdown.

Suggesting that the League did not have a figure for the number of Syrians detained since the uprising began, Mr Elaraby called on the opposition and ordinary Syrians to aid the observers by sending them names of relatives or friends they think are detained by Mr Assad's regime.

He did not say whether the League was able to verify the release of 3,484 prisoners or when they left prison.

"We call for the release of all of them," he said.

Mr Elaraby defended the Sudanese general heading the Arab League mission in Syria, saying he was doing his job perfectly.

"He is a capable" military man with a clean reputation."

Controversy has swirled around Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi because he served in key security positions under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Amnesty International said Gen Dabi led Mr Bashir's military intelligence service until August 1995, when he was appointed head of external security.

"During the early 1990s, the military intelligence in Sudan was responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and torture or other ill-treatment of numerous people in Sudan," it said in a statement.

"The Arab League's decision to appoint as the head of the observer mission a Sudanese general on whose watch severe human rights violations were committed in Sudan risks undermining the League's efforts so far and seriously calls into question the mission's credibility," Amnesty said.

Syria’s Al-Assad mulls Arab plan

Syrians living in Malta demonstrate against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as they march during a protest in solidarity with Syria's anti-government protesters, in Valletta.

Πηγή: IOL news
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis (Reuters)

Dec 19 2011

Amman - Gulf officials expressed hope on Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would finally sign an Arab League peace pact aimed at ending a crackdown on protests and averting civil war.

After six weeks of Syrian stalling, Qatar said it had information Assad would sign the plan, which calls for withdrawing the army from towns that have turned against him, freeing thousands of political prisoners, starting dialogue with the opposition and letting monitors into the country.

“We have information that indicates that he will sign the initiative. If this is true or not true we'll see,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told journalists on the sidelines of a meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh, in remarks carried by al-Arabiya Television.

Omani Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah said: “We are optimistic that Syria will join the Arab League in signing the protocol, which is ready now, within 24 hours.”

“That is what we hope for. If not, the Arab League foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to consider measures that might be taken in the future,” he said in Riyadh.

The Arab League has suspended Syria's membership and announced sanctions over Assad's refusal so far to sign up to its peace plan.

Arab ministers are set to meet later this week and could decide to submit their plan to the United Nations Security Council, making it a potential basis for wider international action.

Armed resistance has emerged in the last two months, alongside a peaceful protest movement that began in March inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.

Loyalist forces, including a pro-Assad militia, have reportedly taken scores of casualties from insurgents in the last few weeks, especially in the northwestern province of Idlib near Turkey and in the central region of Homs.

Sectarian killings have occurred in Homs, a city of one million people, 140km north of Damascus, between members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'a Islam, and Sunnis, who are the majority in Syria.

Assad, 46, has ruled Syria since inheriting power from his late father in 2000. He says his forces are fighting insurgents backed by foreign powers and that his critics are serving a conspiracy to sow sectarian strife in the country of 21-million at the heart of the Arab Middle East.

He told an Iraqi delegation on Saturday that it was in Syria's interest “for the world to know what is going on away from misinformation and the turning of facts on their head, which aims to foil any prospect of a solution”.

Events on the ground in Syria are difficult to verify as the government does not allow most independent journalists.

Troops shot dead six civilians and one conscript on Sunday in raids in Homs and Idlib, according to activist groups. A campaign of arrests and house-to-house raids expanded in Damascus suburbs and in towns to the south of the capital, during which 10 people were killed last week and hundreds were arrested.

The official state news agency said a vehicle being used by what it described as terrorists to transport explosives blew up in Homs on Saturday, killing two militants.

In Palmyra, home to famed Roman-era ruins in the desert southeast of Homs, several security personnel defected after six protesters were injured in firing by security forces on a demonstration in the town, activist groups said.

They said a group of soldiers also defected from guard posts at the notorious Palmyra Prison, where hundreds of Assad's father's opponents were killed in the 1980s.

Fighting erupted between deserters and a garrison stationed near the jail. Armoured vehicles fired heavy machineguns at residential neighbourhoods, activists said.

“The people are responding by shouting 'God is greater' from their homes,” a resident of the town, who gave his name as Mohammad and works in the now-moribund tourism industry, told Reuters by phone.

The United Nations says Assad's crackdown on protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world this year has killed more than 5 000 people. Authorities blame armed gangs for the violence and say 1 100 soldiers and police have been killed.

An Arab ministerial committee on Syria has recommended Arab foreign ministers, who will meet in Egypt on Wednesday, discuss asking the UN Security Council to adopt their peace plan.

Long-time Syrian ally and arms supplier Russia took a step closer to the Western position on Thursday when it presented a surprise draft resolution at the United Nations which stepped up its criticism of the bloodshed in Syria.

The opposition Syrian National Council met in Tunisia on Saturday, the first anniversary of the self-immolation of Tunisian vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi, the incident that set off the wave of revolts around the Arab world.

Arab League approves sanctions against Syria

Protesters opposed to President Bashar al-Assad face violent responses from security forces. The Arab League passed a series of measures censuring Syria for its actions.

Πηγή: Washington Post
By Alice Fordham

Nov 27 2011

BEIRUT— The Arab League on Sunday overwhelmingly approved a series of economic sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including freezing the assets of senior figures, banning high-level Syrian officials from visiting Arab nations and ending dealings with the country’s central bank.

The decision is the first of its kind by a body that is often perceived as divided and indecisive. Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria did not vote on the sanctions.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari saidSaturday that Iraq had “reservations” about sanctions and analysts doubt that Iraq, which has a strong trade relationship with Syria, would implement them. And Lebanon, whose government is dominated by groups that support Assad, including the militant political group Hezbollah, also is unlikely to enforce the sanctions.

But the move, announced at a news conference in Cairo by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, could nonetheless have a significant impact on the Syrian government andbusinesses, and represents a hardening stance of Arab countries against Assad.

The tiny Gulf state of Qatar was active in the international move to remove former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi from power. It now holds the rotating presidency of the Arab League and has been playing a leading role in the unprecedented package of sanctions.

Halting dealings between the central bank and Arab countries will make international trade more difficult for Syria, because it means the bank won’t be able to underwrite such deals, said Chris Phillips of the Economist Intelligence Unit, as will a likely ban against commercial flights between Syria and Arab countries, which the group is considering. This could impact the business community that has benefited from Assad’s liberalization measures and has thus far remained largely supportive of the government.

Phillips said, however, that the chance of the business leaders joining a growing but fractured coalition of defected soldiers and anti-government gunmen working to overthrow the leadership was very slim.

“The sanctions will put pressure not just on the institutions targeted but on the whole economy, and will certainly destroy what remains of investment confidence,” said a banker in neighboring Lebanon, where public revenues have been heavily impacted by the turmoil in Syria.

“It is going to have tangible effects as well as a very strong political message,” he added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Within Syria, anti-government activists said they welcomed the action taken by the Arab League, but some sought more international involvement, calling on the United Nations Security Council to impose a no-fly zone on the country and support the group of army defectors and armed dissidents known as the Free Syrian Army.

An activist in the city of Homs, who goes by the name Hadi al-Abdullah, said the violence was growing worse daily, with sectarian fighting and clashes between security forces and armed anti-government groups claiming dozens of lives daily.

“We call for militarized buffer zones on the borders and a no-fly zone,” he said. “Every hour matters, we are seeing our loved ones die.”

Violence is reaching new levels, according to activists. Rami Abdulrahman, of the London-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory, said more than 100 people have been killed in protests and clashes since Thursday.

And, along with fellow activists in the capital, Damascus and the eastern city of Deir ez-Zour, Abdullah expressed concern that food and fuel shortages, already harsh, particularly for the poorest people, would worsen with tightened economic sanctions.

Arab League stops short of suspending Syria

Syrians shout slogans against President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

Πηγή: usatoday

Oct 17 2011

CAIRO (AP) – Gulf countries seeking to suspend Syria's membership to the Arab Leagueover its bloody crackdown on protesters failed to gain enough support Sunday to push the measure through, reflecting deep divisions among the body's 22 nations.

Arab foreign ministers met at the group's Cairo headquarters behind closed doors for an initial 3-hour session without Syria's representative, then took a break and reconvened for talks with Syrian diplomats that lasted late into the night.

Just after the meeting with Syrian diplomats, Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim made no mention of a possible suspension and instead gave Syria a 15-day deadline to enact a cease-fire.

The Arab League also agreed to create a committee led by Qatar to oversee the situation in Syria and said a national dialogue between Syrian officials and the opposition would take place at the League's headquarters in Cairo.

"A national dialogue in 15 days is one of the most important decisions of the day," bin Jassim said.

The national dialogue is to include members of the opposition from outside Syria as well as inside. If the meeting and a cease-fire do not take place within the allotted time frame, the Arab League will meet again in an emergency session, participants said.

Syrian state TV reported that Damascus was not eager to hold the dialogue in Cairo, suggesting it should be held in Syria instead.

The newly formed Syrian National Council, a broad based opposition umbrella group, was also seen unlikely to accept the call for dialogue, though some factions within the fragmented opposition who might be willing to hold talks.

Some activists rejected the idea of talks with the Assad regime.

"We said it from the day the first martyr fell: No dialogue with the killers. The killers will be put on trial by the free Syrian people," wrote prominent Syrian opposition figure Suhair Atassi on her Twitter feed. She is in hiding.

To suspend Syria's membership, at least two-thirds of the members would have had to support the measure. A bloc of six Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, was leading the push for the measure along with recognition of the opposition leadership, the Syrian National Council, said an Arab diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

Many Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, already have withdrawn their ambassadors from Syria to protest the regime's bloody response to the protests.

However, the diplomat said a significant bloc of countries was opposed, including Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon and Yemen, whose leader is also facing a serious uprising. According to Arab League diplomats, Mideast heavyweight Egypt did not indicate yet which side it is on.

Suspension of an Arab League member is rare. Although the move would not likely have a direct, tangible impact on Syria, it would constitute a major blow to President Bashar Assad's embattled regime by stripping Damascus of its Arab support and further deepening its isolation.

The group suspended Libya's membership earlier this year after Moammar Gadhafi's violent crackdown on protesters there, but has since reinstated Libya under the country's new leadership.

Syria's ambassador to the Arab League, Youssef Ahmad, held up a document he said was shared with the Arab foreign ministers. In it, he alleged, was proof that weapons from Israel had been found in Syria among the protesters.

"The Syrian opposition is also getting logistical support from Arab countries," he said in his public remarks to the body. The Syrian regime frequently claims outside forces are fomenting the violence. The opposition denies that, opposing foreign intervention.

The U.N. says more than 3,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March.

"Unfortunately the situation remains dangerous," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said.

During the meetings, about 2,000 anti-Assad protesters rallied outside the Arab League building on the edge of Cairo's Tahrir Square, the center of Egypt's uprising.

Despite the growing chorus for an end to the crisis, Assad has shown no sign of easing his campaign to crush the 7-month-old uprising. On Sunday, security forces opened fire on a funeral for a slain activist in the east. Forces elsewhere arrested at least 44 people in the capital's suburbs in house-to-house raids and activists said more than 900 people in the central city of Homs had been detained over the past week.