Syria and the Arab League Mission

[Pooky 3,784]

1 January 2012 Last updated at 14:07 ET

Arab Parliament urges end to Syria monitors' mission

Both protests and the crackdown have continued since the monitors arrived

An advisory body to the Arab League has called for the organisation's observers to be withdrawn from Syria because of the ongoing crackdown on protests.

The speaker of the Arab Parliament said the monitors had to leave "considering the continued killing of innocent civilians by the Syrian regime".

There has been no let-up in the violence since the observers started their work on Tuesday.

Their mission is to monitor a peace plan drawn up by the Arab League.

The Speaker of the Arab Parliament, Salem al-Diqbassi, said in a statement that the continuing repression "in the presence of Arab monitors has roused the anger of Arab people and negates the purpose of sending a fact-finding mission".

"This is giving the Syrian regime an Arab cover for continuing its inhumane actions under the eyes and ears of the Arab League," Mr Diqbassi added.

The parliament is an 88-member advisory committee of delegates from member states. Its recommendations are non-binding and it operates separately from the league.

'Nothing frightening'

Correspondents say many demonstrators are becoming frustrated at the league's inability to stop the violence.

About 60 monitors are in the country to verify the implementation of the Arab League plan, which calls for an end to all fighting, the withdrawal of troops from the streets and the release of political prisoners.

Although some tanks have reportedly pulled back, snipers have been visible during demonstrations and rallies.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of anti-government groups inside Syria, said at least six people had died in various parts of Syria on Sunday.

More than 150 people have been killed since the monitors arrived in the country, according to activists. The UN says puts the number of deaths in the 10-month uprising at 5,000.

There has also been criticism of the head of the monitoring team, Sudanese Gen Mustafa al-Dabi - who is regarded by some as biased towards the Syrian government.

On Saturday he appeared to contradict one of his officials who was quoted as saying during a visit to the southern city of Deraa that he and other monitors had seen government snipers "with our own eyes".

Gen Dabi later told the BBC that the observer had made no such claim and was only speaking hypothetically.

On Thursday, after a visit to the restive northern city of Homs, Gen Dabi said that "some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening".

The general has held a number of senior posts in Sudan, including in the troubled Darfur region.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad says it is fighting armed groups and that 2,000 security forces personnel have died.

Casualty figures and other information are hard to verify as most foreign media are barred from reporting freely in Syria.

BBC link

And still the killing continues in Syria.

The Arab League mission commander on the ground seems to think he's in Egypt, because he is in complete denial. The Syrian government forces continue their use of snipers, completely disregarding the presence of the Arab League monitors. Even the Arab Parliament thinks this is a waste of time.

When is the world going to step up to the plate and put real and effective pressure on the Assad regime? Will Russia and China let that happen, or will they be content to sit back and let the bloodletting continue?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The US would do well to stay out of the matter, and abstain from any General Assembly/Security Counsel resolutions. I would feel even better if the the US gave up it's permanent status on the Security Counsel with the recommendation that the other permanent members do so as well. That was so 67 years ago, when the Allied Nations felt they had to dominate world affairs and created the stalemate that resulted in the Cold War. Communism failed. That war is over. The Arabs and the rest of the Muslim world need to be treated as equals, and the dying old coots need to leave the battlefield.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/even-arab-league-wants-monitors-syria-173947571.html

By Connor Simpson | The Atlantic Wire – 6 hrs ago

After days of protests and continued violence, an Arab League advisory board issued a statement Sunday morning calling for the monitoring group to withdraw from Syria. Reuters is reporting an 88-member advisory board made up of members from each state wants the monitoring board out because it's giving Syria an Arab cover to continue the violence against its people. They also cited the anger roused over comments made by the head of the monitoring board, Mustafa al-Dabi of Sudan, when he visited the city of Homs, a conflict-stricken city, and said things looked, "reassuring." Al-Dabi has a dubious track record of human rights violations in his native Sudan, which led to Amnesty International publicly denouncing his appointment. An Arab League official told Reuters they wouldn't withdraw the group just yet, and that more monitors were on the way and they were expected to remain there for about a month. In the picture above, Arab League official can be seen in their yellow jackets surrounded by anti-government protesters in the city of Idlib.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Duplicate thread. Perhaps a mod can merge these two topics.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/344960-syria-and-the-arab-league-mission/

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

Duplicate thread. Perhaps a mod can merge these two topics.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/344960-syria-and-the-arab-league-mission/

you rang?