Arab League to expand observer mission in Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Arab League is pressing ahead with a heavily criticized observer mission in Syria, saying that it will increase the number of monitors and calling on all sides to halt months of bloodshed.

The announcements came after the head of the mission briefed an Arab League ministerial committee in Cairo on Sunday, January 8 on the preliminary findings of the observers, who are monitoring Syria's compliance with regional demands to end a violent crackdown on a nearly 10-month uprising.

Opposition activists contend that the mission, the first of its kind for the 22-member-regional bloc, has done little but provide a cover for more violence. Hundreds of people have been killed since Syria agreed Dec. 19 to admit the monitors, according to the Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists that organizes protests and documents the bloodshed. At least 21 more deaths were reported Sunday, the group said.

Members of the Syrian National Council, the most prominent opposition bloc, and other activists have called on the league to concede that it can’t protect civilians and to ask the U.N. Security Council to step in. The Arab Parliament, a league advisory body, has also declared the mission a failure and called for the immediate withdrawal of the observers.

In a statement Sunday, the ministerial committee urged the Syrian government to fulfill its commitments under a league-negotiated peace plan calling for the withdrawal of security forces from cities and residential areas, the release of political prisoners, free access to international media and dialogue with the opposition. The league also reiterated its demand for an end to “all acts of violence from any side,” Los Angeles Times reported.