Syria says it’s still open to Arab observer plan
Syria said Sunday it is still negotiating with the Arab League over the bloc’s request to send observers into the country, as tightening sanctions by Arab and other nations fail to halt the eight-month crackdown on anti-government protesters.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested some headway had been made, but there was no official announcement on whether Syria would sign the agreement.
New violence killed at least nine people on Sunday, including a female university professor and a father and his three children in central Syria, opposition activists said. The Local Coordination Committees activist network put the death toll from violence Sunday at 22, but the number could not be immediately confirmed by other activist groups.
Activists also said a U.S.-born Syrian blogger was arrested at the Syrian-Jordanian border while on her way to attend a workshop for advocates of press freedoms in the Arab world.
A statement issued by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression said Razan Ghazzawi was arrested by police and immigration officials at the border while on her way to Amman to attend the conference as a representative of the center.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network confirmed her arrest Sunday.
Ghazzawi is a human rights advocate and had been documenting violations and arrests in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in March. She is one of the few Syrian activists who blogged under her real name.
Arab leaders have given Syria a new deadline of Sunday to respond to the League’s peace plan, which calls for the admission of observers to ensure compliance with a government cease-fire. They also held out the threat of pushing for U.N. involvement if Damascus balks.
Syria’s failure to meet a Nov. 25 deadline to allow in observers drew Arab League sanctions, including a ban on dealings with the country’s central bank. Together with sanctions from the United States, the European Union and Turkey, the Arab League’s penalties are expected to deal significant damage to Syria’s economy and may undercut the regime’s authority.
The revolt against President Bashar Assad’s rule began with peaceful protests in mid-March, triggering a brutal crackdown. The unrest has steadily become bloodier as army defectors join the revolt and some civilians take up arms, prompting the United Nations’ human rights chief to refer to it last week as a civil war and urge the international community to protect Syrian civilians.
The U.N. estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed.