Civil war violence out of control as growing likelihood of Arab Nations call upon UN in Syria | Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles
Democracy Chronicles believes Assad must leave immediately. Here is a map showing the size of Syria compared with a US state. Below that is an article on the latest developments from AFP, a French news service:
Pressure mounts for UN to intervene in Syria
DAMASCUS — Pressure mounted on the Arab League on Friday to seek UN intervention in the face of growing exasperation that the bloc’s hard-won observer mission in Syria has failed to staunch 10 months of killing. Despite widespread criticism of the mission, its deputy chief of operations, Ali Jarush, told reporters that it was likely to be extended by a month. The head of the mission on the ground, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi of Sudan, is preparing to report to Arab foreign ministers, who are to meet on Sunday in Cairo to discuss the next step.
“Everything indicates that the observer mission in Syria will be extended by a month, since the first month has not been enough as part of it was taken up by logistic preparations,” Jarush said in the Egyptian capital. Human Rights Watch said the observers’ presence had failed to rein in the Syrian regime’s crackdown, with activists reporting 506 civilians killed and another 490 detained since the monitors first deployed on December 26. It urged the regional bloc “to publicly recognise that Syria has not respected the League’s plan and work with the Security Council to increase pressure on the authorities and effectively curtail the use of fire power.”
The head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghaliun, headed to Cairo to lobby Arab ministers to refer the observer mission’s findings to the UN Security Council for tough action. Ghaliun planned to ask the League “to transfer the file on Syria to the UN Security Council with a view to securing a decision to establish a buffer zone and a no-fly zone” in Syria, an SNC statement said. An SNC spokesman told AFP in Cairo that the group is “preparing a counter report” to the one Dabi is due to submit to the pan-Arab body.
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