Damascus defiant in face of league call on crackdown

DAMASCUS HAS adopted a defiant stand against the Arab League plan which calls for an end to the crackdown on protests in Syria and withdrawal of troops from urban areas.

Commenting yesterday on the expiry of the league’s deadline for implementation of the plan, President Bashar al-Assad predicted: “The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue. However, Syria will not bow down.”

He warned that the league’s initiative could provide a pretext for western military action modelled on the intervention in Libya and said foreign military involvement would lead to an “earthquake” in the region.

Foreign minister Walid Muallem said the league plan, which calls for deployment of observers to monitor the situation, “violates our sovereignty”.

“We will fight if necessary,” Mr Muallem said. “The crisis can only be solved by Syrians.”

The league has rejected Syrian-proposed amendments to the plan and has threatened sanctions and possible referral to the UN Security Council if Damascus fails to implement the plan. Russia and China say, however, that they will veto any council action proposed by western governments.

Meanwhile, Syrian participation in league activities has been suspended.

The Assad regime’s tough talk coincided with opposition claims that two protesters were killed in Homs and one in restive Idlib province, and amid reports of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on Baath party headquarters in Damascus, claimed and then denied by the rebel Syrian Free Army which consists of army deserters.

If reports of the strike on the party facility are confirmed, this would be the first such attack in the capital during eight months of unrest and could signify an escalation of assaults on regime targets, prompting retaliation by the armed forces which remain loyal to the regime.

Last week, a rebel army unit claimed an attack on an air force intelligence facility at Harasta, north of the capital.

Dr Assad, who assumed power in 2000 on the death of of his father, said a new constitution would be promulgated and that parliamentary elections would be held in February or March and a new government formed.

Independent left-winger Kadri Jamil, who sits on the 28-member constitutional commission, told The Irish Times that the document would provide for an end to Baath party rule, multiparty democracy and the direct election of the president.

Damascus’s dispute with the league is seen as a sign of its increasing isolation in the region, although the Assad regime continues to enjoy the support of neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq, as well as Iran.

Algeria has expressed reservations about league policy, which has been driven principally by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.