DAMASCUS: Syria has agreed to extend a widely criticized Arab League observer mission for a second month, just hours after launching an angry tirade against the bloc’s efforts to mediate in the crisis.
League officials had warned that the monitors, already depleted by the withdrawal of the six oil-
rich Gulf states from the mission, would be confined to base from Wednesday if Syria’s agreement was not forthcoming.
“Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sent a letter tonight to the secretary general of the Arab League [Nabil al-Arabi], informing him of the Syrian government’s agreement to extend the observer mission for one month, from January 24 to February 23, 2012,” said a statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Tuesday night.
The announcement came after Muallem launched a stinging attack on the League following its weekend call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to his deputy and clear the way for a unity government within two months.
“Enough of the Arab solutions for now,” Muallem told a televised news conference, during which he accused the Arabs of “plotting” to internationalize the crisis and taking decisions while “knowing that these will be rejected” by Damascus.
According to him, Syria has no choice but to confront the armed groups that the government holds responsible for the violence—which the United Nations (UN) says has killed more than 5,400 people since March—stressing that Russia would never accept foreign intervention.
Western governments have been capitalizing on the Arab League’s tough new stance to embark on a fresh drive for action by the UN Security Council after previous efforts were blocked by Beijing and Moscow.
The US State Department said that American and Russian diplomats held “very constructive” talks this week in Moscow amid efforts to resolve their differences in the global response to the Syrian unrest.
Washington is calling for Assad’s resignation, while the Russians continue to support him.
European and Arab nations, meanwhile, want a vote next week on a resolution condemning Syria’s crackdown on protests and hinting at sanctions, diplomats said.
Britain, France, Germany and Arab nations are working on the resolution, which could face Russian opposition because of a call on all UN member states to follow Arab League sanctions against Assad’s regime.
Diplomats from several Security Council and Arab nations said that there could a vote as early as Monday or Tuesday next week.
A first draft of the new resolution, obtained by Agence France-Presse, reveals that the League has ordered sanctions against Syria and “encourages all states to adopt similar steps and fully to cooperate with the League of Arab States in the implementation of its measures.”
Moscow, a Cold War ally of Damascus that retains a naval base at Tartus on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, has spoken out strongly against sanctions.
A Western diplomat stressed that there could be changes to the resolution. “There is a need for a united Security Council voice on Syria,” the diplomat told Agence France-Presse.
League officials had warned that the monitors, already depleted by the withdrawal of the six oil-
rich Gulf states from the mission, would be confined to base from Wednesday if Syria’s agreement was not forthcoming.
“Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sent a letter tonight to the secretary general of the Arab League [Nabil al-Arabi], informing him of the Syrian government’s agreement to extend the observer mission for one month, from January 24 to February 23, 2012,” said a statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Tuesday night.
The announcement came after Muallem launched a stinging attack on the League following its weekend call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to his deputy and clear the way for a unity government within two months.
“Enough of the Arab solutions for now,” Muallem told a televised news conference, during which he accused the Arabs of “plotting” to internationalize the crisis and taking decisions while “knowing that these will be rejected” by Damascus.
According to him, Syria has no choice but to confront the armed groups that the government holds responsible for the violence—which the United Nations (UN) says has killed more than 5,400 people since March—stressing that Russia would never accept foreign intervention.
Western governments have been capitalizing on the Arab League’s tough new stance to embark on a fresh drive for action by the UN Security Council after previous efforts were blocked by Beijing and Moscow.
The US State Department said that American and Russian diplomats held “very constructive” talks this week in Moscow amid efforts to resolve their differences in the global response to the Syrian unrest.
Washington is calling for Assad’s resignation, while the Russians continue to support him.
European and Arab nations, meanwhile, want a vote next week on a resolution condemning Syria’s crackdown on protests and hinting at sanctions, diplomats said.
Britain, France, Germany and Arab nations are working on the resolution, which could face Russian opposition because of a call on all UN member states to follow Arab League sanctions against Assad’s regime.
Diplomats from several Security Council and Arab nations said that there could a vote as early as Monday or Tuesday next week.
A first draft of the new resolution, obtained by Agence France-Presse, reveals that the League has ordered sanctions against Syria and “encourages all states to adopt similar steps and fully to cooperate with the League of Arab States in the implementation of its measures.”
Moscow, a Cold War ally of Damascus that retains a naval base at Tartus on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, has spoken out strongly against sanctions.
A Western diplomat stressed that there could be changes to the resolution. “There is a need for a united Security Council voice on Syria,” the diplomat told Agence France-Presse.
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