Syrian Rebel Chief Asks World to Stop Bloodshed

NOTE:  The Arab League is a regional organization of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia (Middle East). It was formed in Cairo in 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member in May 1945. The Arab League currently has 22 members (including one, Syria, whose participation was suspended in November 2011) and four observers. The main goal of the league is to “draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

(by Erika Solomon, ChicagoTribune.com) BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Syrian rebel army chief urged the world on Tuesday to protect civilians in Syria, saying Arab peace monitors had failed to curb President Bashar al-Assad‘s violent response to a 10-month-old revolt against his rule. [Bashar’s father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.] [The Arab League] has also proved unable to stop the bloodshed in Syria, where U.N. officials say more than 5,000 people have been killed and Damascus says [2,000 of] its security forces have [been killed].

Riad al-Asaad, Turkish-based commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), called for international intervention to replace the Arab observer mission, [whose mandate expires on January 19th].

Riad al-Assad

“The Arab League and their monitors failed in their mission and though we respect and appreciate our Arab brothers for their efforts, we think they are incapable of improving conditions in Syria or resisting this regime,” he told Reuters by telephone.

“For that reason we call on them to turn the issue over to the U.N. Security Council and we ask that the international community intervene because they are more capable of protecting Syrians at this stage than our Arab brothers,” Asaad said.

Iran condemned what it called foreign interference in the affairs of its closest Arab ally, Syria, and praised reforms President Assad has promised as “problem-solving.”

“We are fundamentally against interfering in the affairs of other countries. We think it does not solve the problems but will only make them more complicated,” [Iranian] Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.

Assad, while [offering] reform, has vowed to crush his opponents with an “iron fist,” but Syrians braving bullets and torture chambers appear equally determined to add him to the list of the past year’s toppled Arab leaders.

Army deserters and other rebels have taken up arms against security forces dominated by Assad’s minority Alawite sect, pushing Sunni Muslim-majority Syria closer to civil war.

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The Arab League must decide soon whether to withdraw its 165 monitors, whose mandate expires on Thursday, or keep them in Syria even though they are set to report that Damascus has not fully implemented a peace plan agreed to on November 2.

The Arab plan required Syria to halt the bloodshed, withdraw troops from cities, free detainees, provide access for the monitors and the media and open talks with opposition forces.

Nabil Elaraby

Qatar has proposed sending in Arab troops, a bold idea for the often sluggish League and one likely to be resisted by Arab rulers close to Assad and those worried about unrest at home.

Syria’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was “astonished” at Qatar’s suggestion, which it “absolutely rejected.”

The Arab League could ask the U.N. Security Council to act, but until now opposition from Russia and China has prevented the world body from even criticizing Syria, an old ally of Moscow.

Western diplomats said a Russian draft resolution handed to the council on Monday did not make clear if Moscow would accept tough language demanded by the West.

Few Western powers favor any Libya-style military action in Syria, which lies in the heart of the conflict-prone Middle East. Bordering Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Israel, it is allied to Iran and the Lebanese Shi’ite [terrorist group] Hezbollah.

The United States, the European Union, Turkey and the Arab League have announced sanctions against Syria, but while these have hurt its economy, they have yet to prompt Assad to change course. Opposition to sanctions from some of Syria’s trading partners, notably Lebanon and Iraq, also dilutes their impact.

In October, Russia and China vetoed a European-drafted resolution that threatened possible sanctions. Russia presented its own draft on December 15 and Western countries agreed to discuss and negotiate it, but there has been little progress since then.

A Syrian lawmaker told Reuters on Monday he had fled the country to join the opposition after losing hope that Assad would enact reforms or stop the violence.

“Blood is in the streets,” said Imad Ghalioun, from the restive city of Homs, who took refuge in Cairo two weeks ago.

“The whole country is bleeding. I do not think there will be any reforms because the young people have taken their decision,” he said. “This is a revolution and there is no going back.”

(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman and Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Reuters.  Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from The Chicago Tribune. Visit the website at ChicagoTribune.com.