European Forum

Syria agrees to Arab League plan

Yesterday (November 2) the Arab League’s emergency meeting in Cairo ended in the Syrian authorities’ acceptance of a plan for the situation in Syria, proposed by the regional organization two days before.

The Syrian officials accepted the League’s demands on halting the bloodshed, withdrawing the tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets, and the immediate release of political prisoners. Moreover, the Arab League received a green light to monitor the situation in Syria and access the country’s mass media. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister, expressed his hope that the implementation of the deal will follow shortly and said the organization will prepare ‘a national dialogue’ between the Syrian government and the opposition.

The reactions

The members of the opposition Syrian National Council voiced scepticism over Damascus's acceptance of the plan. Najib al-Ghadban viewed the conclusion of the agreement as ‘an attempt [by the Syrian regime] to buy more time’. Louay Safi doubted the implementation of the League’s initiative saying the Syrian government has a long history of playing "games".

The sceptical reactions came as, according to pro-democracy activists, 13 factory workers were killed by the Syrian security forces in the village of Kfar Laha on Tuesday (November 1). The events followed al-Assad government’s announcement of its intention to end seven month of unrest in the country and start a dialogue with the Arab League.

The United States reiterated its call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign. Victoria Nuland, the US state department spokeswoman, expressed her concern over the implementation of the agreement referring to Assad's government long track record of broken pledges.

The Syrian revolts, which commenced in early March with the aim of ousting President Bashar al-Assad and were met with overwhelming military force, have reached the death toll of more than 3,000,  according to the United Nations human rights office.

Souces: Aljazeera. Image: Flickr.