Arab foreign ministers met yesterday to discuss how to implement a UN-backed peace plan for Syria after President Bashar al-Assad agreed to the proposal that urges an end to violence, but does not demand the Syrian leader step down.
Arab leaders in Baghdad for an Arab League summit were expected to endorse the six-point proposal from UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan, which seeks a ceasefire and political dialogue in what Iraq called a “last chance” for Syria.
The proposal by Annan, a former UN secretary-general, is the latest attempt to broker an end to more than a year of violence in Syria after al-Assad sent troops into cities to try to crush rebels seeking to end his 12-year rule.
Photo: AFP
“Syria’s accepting the plan is a very important step,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said in Baghdad. “This is the last chance for Syria and it must be implemented on the ground.”
Zebari said Arab League ministers would discuss the Annan plan and how it can be put into action in Syria.
The Arab League suspended Syria last year and has in the past called on al-Assad to step aside to allow talks. However, members are split over how to handle increasing violence that threatens to inflame the region’s complex ethnic and sectarian mix.
Sunni powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led the drive to isolate Syria, but other non-Gulf Arab states, such as Algeria, Egypt and Iraq’s Shiite-led government urge more caution, fearing that toppling al-Assad could spark sectarian violence.
“The priority is to end the violence in Syria,” United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Qarqash said. “We support Annan’s proposal.”
The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria’s upheaval, though Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed terrorists for the violence and say 3,000 troops and police have been killed.
Iraq is holding its first Arab League summit in two decades and it will be the first such meeting hosted by a Shiite Arab leader, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Annan’s proposal calls for the pullout of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists, but it does not hinge on al-Assad leaving office.
The envoy said on Tuesday that Syria had accepted the proposal, but he acknowledged that resolving the crisis would be a “long difficult task” and violence continued with al-Assad’s forces raiding rebel forces who had taken refuge across the border in Lebanon.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also greeted Syria’s decision skeptically, saying Washington would judge al-Assad on his actions not on what he said, given his record of “over-promising, and under-delivering.”
Western and Arab leaders are due to meet in Istanbul on Sunday to discuss a political transition, and US, Turkish and Arab officials are pushing the divided Syrian opposition to unite, though they remain sharply split over how to form a post-al-Assad government.
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