The Arab League rejected a request by Damascus to amend plans for a 500-strong monitoring mission to Syria and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he would not bow to international pressure to stop a crackdown against protesters.
Confronted since March by street demonstrations against 41 years of rule by his family, Assad said he had no choice but to pursue his crackdown on unrest because his foes were armed.
The Arab League, alarmed at the mounting death toll in Syria, rejected Damascus’ request to alter a plan for the fact-finding mission, which would include military personnel and human rights experts.
“The additions requested by the Syrian counterpart affect the heart of the protocol and fundamentally change the nature of the mission,” Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said in a letter to the Syrian government.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said the plan as it stood compromised the country’s sovereignty, but Damascus had not rejected the mission.
Moualem said the proposed mission had “pervasive jurisdiction that reaches the level of ... violating Syrian sovereignty” and that he would send the Arab League a letter with questions about its role.
“We will reply to the Arab League secretary-general by responsibly presenting a number of queries,” he told a televised news conference in the Syrian capital.
The Cairo-based league had given Damascus three days from a meeting on Wednesday to abide by a deal to withdraw military forces from restive cities, start talks between the government and opposition and pave the way for an observer team.
It was not immediately clear what action the Arab League would take after the deadline passed unheeded by Damascus. The pan-Arab body had threatened sanctions for non-compliance and it has already suspended Syria’s membership.
“Although the timeframe has ended, there have been no meetings or calls for meetings except at the level of delegations [to the league],” a representative of one Arab state at the Arab League said.
In a statement, the league said it remained committed to a peaceful, Arab-engineered solution to the Syrian upheaval, touched off by other Arab popular revolts that have overthrown the autocratic leaders of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya this year.
Syrian authorities blame the violence on foreign-backed armed groups which they say have killed some 1,100 troops and police. By a United Nations account, more than 3,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the unrest.
Assad signaled no retreat from his iron-fist policy in a video released after his forces killed 17 more protesters on Saturday.
“The only way is to search for the armed people, chase the armed gangs, prevent the entry of arms and weapons from neighboring countries, prevent sabotage and enforce law and order,” he said in footage published on Britain’s Sunday Times Web site.
Assad said there would be elections in February or March when Syrians would vote for a parliament to create a new constitution and that would include a provision for a presidential ballot.
An opposition group, the Syrian National Council, said it envisaged a transitional period lasting up to one-and-a-half years if Assad was toppled.
However, some prominent Assad opponents said more work was needed on uniting the opposition to bring about his downfall.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number