Syria signs Arab League deal to allow in monitors
Syria signs Arab League deal to allow in monitors
Syria has signed an agreement to allow observers to monitor its implementation of an Arab League initiative to end the crackdown on anti-government protests.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the Arab League had accepted amendments demanded by Damascus.The Arab League had threatened to ask the UN Security Council to adopt its peace plan to end the crackdown, which has left more than 5,000 people dead.
Syria's opposition coalition dismissed the government's decision as a "ploy".
Human rights activists said security forces had killed at least six civilians on Monday, including three in al-Quriya, near the south-eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
They were shot dead during clashes between troops and army defectors, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The other three deaths were reported in the southern province of Deraa.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist group that documents and organises anti-government protests, put Monday's death toll at 14, including four in Deraa province, three in al-Quriya, and three in Damascus' central district of Midan.
'Model of democracy'
At a news conference in Damascus, Mr Muallem said the Syrian government had agreed to the Arab League's peace initiative because it wanted help to find a "political solution".
“This is just a ploy... They have no intention of implementing any initiative”
End Quote Burhan Ghalioun Leader, Syrian National Council
"We want to emerge from this crisis and build a safe, modern Syria - a Syria that will be a model of democracy," he said.
"The signing of the protocol is the beginning of co-operation between us and the Arab League and we will welcome monitors."He said Syria's sovereignty would be protected because the Arab League had agreed to amendments to the deal, which also calls for the withdrawal of troops from urban centres and the release of detainees.
The observers would be "free" in their movements and "under the protection of the Syrian government", he added, but would not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites.
Mr Muallem said he was confident that the observers would support the Syrian government's assertion that foreign-backed extremists and armed criminal gangs were stirring up trouble and targeting security personnel.
"There are many countries in the world who don't wish to admit the presence of terrorist armed groups in Syria," he said. "They will come and see that they are present. We must not be afraid at all."
He also revealed that Russia had advised Syria to ratify the plan. Moscow, a long-time ally of Damascus, surprised Western nations last week by drafting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an end to the violence.
Activists say more than 900 people have died while Syria wavered on whether to agree to the plan
"We now have about 100 names including representatives of non-governmental organisations and governments," he said, adding that media representatives and members of security forces would be included.
He said the observers would have a one-month mandate that could be extended by another month if both sides agreed.
Mr Arabi said that there were no immediate plans to lift the economic sanctions that were imposed by the Arab League when Syria first refused to allow in monitors.
"This has not happened, as that would require another meeting," he added.
Blogger released
Mr Arabi also announced that the Arab League would organise a meeting with all factions of the Syrian opposition and prepare the ground for dialogue with the Syrian government.
But the leader of the Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group, dismissed the government's decision as "just a ploy".
"The Syrian regime is manoeuvring to try to prevent the Syrian file being submitted to the UN Security Council," Burhan Ghalioun told the AFP news agency in Tunisia. "They have no intention of implementing any initiative."
Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi's release came after an international campaign
In that time, more than 900 civilians have been killed by Syrian security forces, including 80 children and 29 women, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees.
Meanwhile, a Syrian media rights organisation says that a well-known Syrian-American blogger who was arrested earlier this month has been released on bail of $300 (£193).
The Syrian Centre for Media and Free Expression says that Razan Ghazzawi was allowed to leave prison late on Sunday evening.
The group is now calling for the charges against her to be dropped. They include accusations of setting up an organisation that seeks to change the social and economic status of the country.
Ms Ghazzawi has run her blog from Damascus since 2009, calling for democratic reform.
With Courtesy of BBC
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