Syrian monitors should withdraw, says Arab League body

Observer mission 'giving Syrian regime an Arab cover for inhumane actions'

guardian.co.uk, Reuters in Cairo, Sunday 1 January 2012

An Arab League observer, wearing an orange jacket, visits a wounded
man in hospital in Daraa, southern Syria. Photograph: Sana/EPA

An Arab League advisory body has called for the immediate withdrawal of the organisation's monitoring mission in Syria, saying it is allowing Damascus to cover up violence and abuses.

The Arab League has a small team in Syria checking whether President Bashar al-Assad is keeping his promise to end a crackdown on a nine-month uprising against his rule.

The observer mission has already stirred controversy, with rights groups reporting continued deaths in clashes and tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets.

The Sudanese head of the mission infuriated some observers by suggesting he was reassured by first impressions of Homs, one of the main centres of unrest.

The Arab Parliament, an 88-member advisory committee of delegates from each of the league's member states, said on Sunday that the violence was continuing to claim many victims.

"For this to happen in the presence of Arab monitors has roused the anger of Arab people and negates the purpose of sending a fact-finding mission," the organisation's chairman, Ali al-Salem al-Dekbas, said.

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

The Arab Parliament was the first body to recommend freezing Syria's membership of the league in response to Assad's crackdown.

An Arab League official, commenting on the parliament's statement, said it was too early to judge the success of the mission, which was scheduled to remain in Syria for a month, and that more monitors were on their way.

The parliament called on the league's secretary general, Nabil Elaraby, to convene a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to adopt a resolution to withdraw the mission immediately.

Dekbas said the continued abuse and killing of innocent Syrian civilians was a "blatant violation to the Arab League's protocol".

Syria's state news agency Sana said massive demonstrations had been held throughout Syria on Friday to support Assad and denounce "the plot which Syria is exposed to".

Demonstrators had condemned "the pressure and biased campaigns targeting Syria's security and stability" and the "lies and fabrications of the misleading media channels", it said.

Syrian authorities have accused foreign powers of arming and funding terrorists in the country and claim 2,000 soldiers and police have been killed.