Syrian response positive to Arab League ultimatum

IN A bid to stave off the imposition of punitive Arab measures against Syria, Damascus has responded positively to the Arab League’s call for the deployment of Arab observers to monitor the league’s plan to end the crackdown on anti-government protests.

Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi stated yesterday that foreign minister Walid al-Moallem sent a positive response to league demands to secretary general Nabil al-Arabi on Sunday night.

In the letter, Syria agreed to sign the protocol providing for the dispatch of monitors if the league accepts “minor amendments that won’t affect the substance of the plan” which calls for an end to violence, withdrawal of troops from urban areas and release of political prisoners.

Mr Makdisi said that once the protocol is signed, the league must make good on a pledge to drop economic sanctions and lift its suspension of the country’s membership of the organisation. In particular, he said that “all decisions taken by the league in Syria’s absence [must] be annulled.” Syria also wants assurances that monitors will not include non-Arab figures who could report back to hostile governments.

League officials were said to be considering Syria’s suggestions.

Syria’s refusal to admit observers before a November 25th deadline prompted the league to impose a wide range of sanctions, including bans on dealings with Syria’s central bank and a freeze on Arab investments and government assets held in Arab banks.

Damascus took the decision to accept the league’s peace plan and admit monitors to oversee implementation after the Syrian armed forces wound up one of the most comprehensive military exercises ever conducted in the country. These manoeuvres included the firing of missiles as well as staging mock operations with troops.

Scud B missiles, with a range of 300km, were said by Israeli military sources to have been fired toward the Iraqi border.

Syrian state television announced that the drill demonstrated that Syrian weaponry and soldiers are “ready to defend the nation and deter anyone who dares to endanger its security”.

The manoeuvres were reportedly conducted in the northeast, an area where there have been frequent clashes between the army and defecting troops belonging to the self-styled “Free Syrian Army” indicating the regime continues to maintain control of that region.

According to Moscow’s Interfax news agency, Damascus has recently taken delivery of Russian anti-ship missiles that could provide protection for the entire Syrian coast in case of naval attack. The deal, agreed in 2007, was apparently valued at $300 million.

Russia and China have taken a strong stand against an arms embargo as well as sanctions against Syria and have threatened to veto UN Security Council resolutions condemning Damascus for its violent suppression of dissent. Human rights bodies say at least 4,000 civilians have been killed in unrest since mid-March.