Arab League rejects Syrian demand to change peace plan

BBC News, 20 November 2011

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The Arab League has called for a peaceful
solution in Syria

The Arab League has rejected a demand by Syria to alter its plan for ending the country's conflict, which has reportedly left at least 3,500 dead.

It dismissed Syria's demand to amend its proposal for a 500-strong observer mission to be sent to the country.

The Arab League's deadline for Syria to end its crackdown passed overnight with no sign of violence abating.

President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will not bow to "pressure" and predicted the conflict would continue.

Speaking to the UK's Sunday Times, he said the unity and stability of Syria were at stake.

The Arab League plan, seen by the world as the best hope for resolving the conflict peacefully, seems to have crashed in flames, the BBC's Jim Muir reports.

On Sunday, there were reports of a grenade attack on a building of the ruling party in the capital Damascus.

If confirmed, it would be the first such attack reported inside the capital since the uprising began in March.

At least 27 people were killed on Saturday, according to opposition activists, including four government intelligence agents whose car was ambushed in Hama by gunmen believed to be army defectors.

Foreign journalists are unable to move around Syria freely, making it difficult to verify reports.

'Pressure to subjugate'

The Arab League's plan has been the focus of efforts to find a diplomatic solution and comes as key international players such as Russia and the US warned of the danger of civil war in Syria.

In a statement on Sunday, the Arab League said: "It was agreed that the amendments and appendices proposed by the Syrian side affect the core of the document and would radically change the nature of the mission which is to oversee the implementation of the Arab plan to end the crisis in Syria and protect Syrian civilians."

Arab League proposals 

1. End to violence and killing
2. Allow foreign journalists to work freely
3. Release prisoners recently detained
4. Withdraw all military equipment from Syrian cities
5. Government-opposition dialogue within two week

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Earlier reports said Damascus was seeking to reduce the observer delegation from 500 to 40.

Syria was reported to have agreed in principle to accept the Arab League's peace plan but critics accused it of stalling for time.

"The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue," Mr Assad told the Sunday Times.

"However, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it."

Mr Assad appeared to dismiss the Arab League plan, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut.

He said it was designed to show that the Arabs were divided, and to prepare the way for outside military intervention which, he repeated, would have dire consequences for the whole region.