Syria nearer to sign Arab plan, crackdown continues
Gulf officials expressed hope Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would finally sign an Arab League peace aimed at ending a crackdown on protests and averting civil war.
After six weeks of Syrian stalling, Qatar said it had information Assad would sign the plan, which calls for withdrawing the army from towns that have turned against him, freeing thousands of political prisoners, starting dialogue with the opposition and letting monitors into the country.
“We have information that indicates that he will sign the initiative. If this is true or not true we’ll see,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told journalists on the sidelines of a meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh, in remarks carried by al-Arabiya Television.
Omani Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah said: “We are optimistic that Syria will join the Arab League in signing the protocol, which is ready now, within 24 hours.”
“That is what we hope for. If not, the Arab League foreign ministers will meet Wednesday to consider measures that might be taken in the future,” he said in Riyadh.
The Arab League has suspended Syria’s membership and announced sanctions over Assad’s refusal so far to sign up to its peace plan.
Arab ministers are set to meet later this week and could decide to submit their plan to the U.N. Security Council, making it a potential basis for wider international action.
Armed resistance has emerged in the last two months, alongside a peaceful protest movement that began in March inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.