Syria accepts Arab League peace plan

[Ringel05]

We'll see how long this lasts.....

Syria has accepted a peace plan proposed by the Arab League to end more than seven months of violence, the League says.

The statement came after Arab League officials met in Cairo to negotiate a solution to the turmoil.

The agreement includes the release of prisoners, the withdrawal of security forces from the streets and talks between the government and opposition.

BBC News - Syria accepts Arab League peace plan after Cairo talks

 

[High_Gravity]

Of course the Syrians are not listening, they are saying whatever they have to say to placate the international community but are not changing their policies on the ground.

 

[waltky]

Assad facin' high noon...

Arab League gives Syria 3 days to stop bloodshed
11/16/2011 : Leaders refuse to elaborate on steps to be taken if Assad fails to comply with ultimatum; France pulls envoy from Damascus.

Arab League foreign ministers on Wednesday gave Syria's government three days to agree to end its crackdown on protesters and allow in teams of observers. The foreign ministers, meeting in the Moroccan capital, did not say what would happen if Damascus failed to comply. Asked if the proposal was a last-ditch attempt at diplomacy, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani told reporters: "We do not want to talk about a last-ditch attempt because I do not want this to sound like a warning."

"What I can say is that we are close to the end of the road as far as the (Arab League's) efforts on this front are concerned," he said. Speaking at the same meeting, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said the time was not right to hold an Arab League summit on Syria. A communique issued at the conclusion of the foreign ministers' meeting in Rabat said: "Observers are to be sent into Syria if the Syrian government signs the agreement within three days starting today and once the violence and the killing stop."

"The observers will make sure Syrian security and pro-government militias do not attack peaceful demonstrations ... (and) will ensure that all armaments are withdrawn from cities and inhabited areas that have witnessed, or are witnessing protests," the communique said. France recalled its ambassador to Damascus as Syria's suspension from the Arab League took effect, intensifying diplomatic pressure on President Bashar Assad to halt a violent eight-month-old crackdown on protests. Syrian army defectors attacked an intelligence complex on the edge of Damascus in a high-profile assault that showed how close the popular uprising is to sliding into armed conflict.

Hours after the Arab League suspension took effect, Assad supporters threw stones and debris at the embassy of the United Arab Emirates and smeared its walls with graffiti, witnesses said. The embassy is in one of the most secure districts of the capital, near Assad's home and offices. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France was working with the Arab League on a draft resolution at the United Nations. Last month Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have condemned Damascus, but since then the normally cautious Arab League has suspended Syria for failing to implement an Arab peace plan. "New violence is taking place and that has led to the closure of the missions in Aleppo and Latakia and to recall our ambassador to Paris," Juppe said, referring to weekend attacks by pro-Assad demonstrators on French diplomatic premises, as well as Turkish and Saudi missions, in Syria.

Arab League gives Syria 3 days to stop blo... JPost - Middle East

See also:

Turkey threatens to cut electricity as Syria is more isolated
Tue November 15, 2011 - Turkey threatens to cut electric supplies to Syria; Arab foreign ministers to consider observer mission; Gulf states reject Syrian call for emergency Arab League meeting

Turkey threatened to cut off supplies of electricity to its neighbor Syria Tuesday, as the Damascus regime found itself under growing pressure from Arab, Turkish, European and North American governments for its ongoing lethal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. "We are supplying them (Syria) with electricity at the moment. If they stay on this course, we may be forced to re-examine all of these decisions," Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Tuesday, according to Turkey's semi-official Anatolian Agency. Turkey, once a close political ally and strong trading partner of Syria, welcomed a decision by the Arab League last weekend to suspend Syria's membership in the alliance.

Days after the humiliating rebuke, a senior Arab League official told CNN the group was floating a plan to try to send some 500 observers to protect civilians in Syria. According to the United Nations, more than 3,500 Syrians have been killed since anti-government protests first erupted in March. "In a meeting headed by Dr. Nabil Al Araby, the secretary-general of the Arab League, held Monday, the Arab League and Arab human rights organizations decided on a mechanism to protect Syrian civilians which will involve sending a delegation of 500 representatives of Arab organizations, media organizations, and military observers to Syria with the objective of documenting the situation on the ground," the official said to CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said the plan was to be presented at an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Morocco's capital Wednesday.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Juda confirmed to CNN that his government had received an invitation to contribute representatives to the proposed observer mission. "We are studying it right now," Juda said in a phone call with CNN Tuesday. "It might be verified tomorrow," he added, at the expected Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Rabat. On Monday, Jordan's King Abdullah became the first Arab leader to publicly call for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down. "If Bashar has the interests of his country, he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life," Abdullah said in an interview with the BBC.

More Turkey threatens to cut electricity as Syria is more isolated - CNN.com

 

[pgm]

Syria has a very long history of verbally excepting peace plans and continuing violence. It's pretty much standard procedure for the Assad regime (and his dad). This time, the world isn't turning a blind eye.

I hope Assad goes. Even if the secular Baathist state is replaced by an Sunni Islamic state, it won't be worse than the status quo. In Egypt, you had some fear that a populist uprising would undo the Camp David Accords. But Syria is a state that has constantly exploited the Palestinian problem and antagonized Israel in an attempt to hold onto any semblance of legitimacy.

 

[JStone]

Syria has a very long history of verbally excepting peace plans and continuing violence. It's pretty much standard procedure for the Assad regime (and his dad). This time, the world isn't turning a blind eye.

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria has a very long history of verbally excepting peace plans and continuing violence. It's pretty much standard procedure for the Assad regime (and his dad). This time, the world isn't turning a blind eye.

I hope Assad goes. Even if the secular Baathist state is replaced by an Sunni Islamic state, it won't be worse than the status quo. In Egypt, you had some fear that a populist uprising would undo the Camp David Accords. But Syria is a state that has constantly exploited the Palestinian problem and antagonized Israel in an attempt to hold onto any semblance of legitimacy.

Every country in the Middle East pretty much does the same thing, they will tell the international community whatever they want to hear but on the ground they change nothing, Iran does the same type of lying and Saddam also did that alot during the 90's these countries will promise you the sun, the moon and the stars but will not change a damn thing.

 

[Ropey]

Syria has a very long history of verbally excepting peace plans and continuing violence. It's pretty much standard procedure for the Assad regime (and his dad). This time, the world isn't turning a blind eye.

No, it's not bs imo.

Syria has a very long history of verbally accepting peace plans and continuing violence. It's pretty much standard procedure for the Assad regime (and his dad). This time, the world isn't turning a blind eye.

I hope Assad goes. Even if the secular Baathist state is replaced by an Sunni Islamic state, it won't be worse than the status quo. In Egypt, you had some fear that a populist uprising would undo the Camp David Accords. But Syria is a state that has constantly exploited the Palestinian problem and antagonized Israel in an attempt to hold onto any semblance of legitimacy.

+2