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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian monitors should withdraw, says Arab League body |
| 2012-01-01 |
| Observer mission 'giving Syrian regime an Arab cover for inhumane actions' An Arab League advisory body has called for the immediate withdrawal of the organisation's monitoring mission in Syria, saying it is allowing Damascus to cover up violence and abuses. The Arab League has a small team in Syria checking whether President Bashar al-Assad is keeping his promise to end a crackdown on a nine-month uprising against his rule. The observer mission has already stirred controversy, with rights groups reporting continued deaths in clashes and tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets. The Sudanese head of the mission infuriated some observers by suggesting he was reassured by first impressions of Homs, one of the main centres of unrest. The Arab Parliament, an 88-member advisory committee of delegates from each of the league's member states, said on Sunday that the violence was continuing to claim many victims. "For this to happen in the presence of Arab monitors has roused the anger of Arab people and negates the purpose of sending a fact-finding mission," the organisation's chairman, Ali al-Salem al-Dekbas, said. "This is giving the Syrian regime an Arab cover for continuing its inhumane actions under the eyes and ears of the Arab League." |
| Posted by:tipper |