Syria faces fresh Arab League sanctions

DAMASCUS FACED fresh Arab League sanctions yesterday as a deadline expired on a deal to admit monitors to oversee implementation of the league’s plan to end the eight-month crackdown on anti-government protesters.

A senior Qatari official said Syria had asked for “clarifications and . . . amendments” to the protocol” covering the deployment of the mission, but league figures meeting in Doha had refused. The official said if Syria agreed, it could sign the document at league headquarters in Cairo today.

The Arab plan, accepted in principle on November 1st, calls for an end to violence, withdrawal of troops from urban areas and release of prisoners.

The new sanctions include a travel ban on 19 cabinet ministers and intelligence and security officials, but not president Bashar al- Assad. Last weekend, the league cut off transactions with the Syrian central bank, halted funding for projects and froze government assets.

Half of the flights between Syria and Arab countries will be suspended on December 15th if Syria does not comply with league demands.

Jordan has joined Lebanon and Iraq in opposing sanctions, arguing that they damage the kingdom’s economy. The Syrian government is less worried about Arab sanctions than the decision of Royal Dutch Shell to end its operations in the country. The oil giant said it had taken this step in line with sanctions imposed by the EU.

Shell’s pullout is a major blow to the Syrian oil industry and could prompt France’s Total to follow suit, depriving the government of revenues from two-thirds of the country’s crude exports.

While Syria can do little to retaliate against the EU, Damascus has suspended a 2004 trade agreement with Turkey in response to sanctions adopted by Ankara. Turkish imports will now be subject to 30 per cent customs fees.

Last year trade between the two totalled $2.4 billion (€1.8 billion).

UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay has called for international action to protect civilians from “continual ruthless repression that, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a fully-fledged civil war”.

Human rights groups estimate some 4,000 people, including 307 children, have been killed since unrest began in mid-March.

Two dozen civilians were reported killed yesterday, while on Saturday a firefight between loyalist troops and army deserters in the northwestern province of Idlib was said to have killed 27.