According to MSNBC World News, “The Arab League halted its observer mission to Syria on Saturday, sharply criticizing the regime of President Bashar Assad for escalating violence in recent days that has killed nearly 100 people across the country.”

Syria Television responded to the Arab League’s decision by stating, “Syria regrets and is surprised at the Arab decision to stop the work of its monitoring mission after it asked for a one-month extension of its work.”

Attempts to find a resolution to the violence in Syria after ten months of protests demanding an end to the rule of President Bashar Assad, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 5,400 people, have now become more urgent as a result of the recent escalation of violence.

According to Reuters:

“The Arab League's job was to observe implementation of its peace plan. Though its mandate was extended for a second month, critics lambasted the mission for its failure to stem bloodshed.”

The observer mission had to be suspended as a result of the “severe deterioration in the situation and the continued use of violence,” as stated by the head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Araby.

Reuters reports:

“The decision comes days after the Arab League called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, following 10 months of revolt against his rule. It will take an Arab peace plan to the U.N. Security Council next week.

"'Given the critical deterioration of the situation in Syria and the continued use of violence ... it has been decided to immediately stop the work of the Arab League's mission to Syria pending presentation of the issue to the league's council,' Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said in a statement."

According to the New York Times,

“Mr. Araby blamed the Syrian government for the bloodshed, saying that it has decided ‘to escalate the military option in complete violation of its commitments to the Arab plan’ and added that ‘innocent citizens’ were the victims. The Syrian government has denied that it is facing a popular uprising, insisting instead that it has been battling armed terrorist groups funded by foreign interests.”

Arab League foreign ministers will discuss early next month the possibility of withdrawing all monitors, but about 100 monitors will remain in Damascus until the future of the mission is decided.

 

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