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Arab League readies to back Syria rebels

Proposes new joint Arab-UN monitoring team for Syria; willing to open all channels of communication with opposition.

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Arab ministers called on Sunday for swift Arab and international action to end bloodshed in Syria after Russia and China blocked a Western-backed Arab peace plan at the UN Security Council.

Arab ministers met in Cairo to revive diplomatic efforts after the Arab initiative that called for President Bashar al-Assad to step aside was stalled by the double veto in New York. As part of the Arab efforts, Tunisia said it would host the first meeting on February 24 of a “Friends of Syria” contact group made up of Arab and other states and backed by Western powers.

“How long will we stay as onlookers to what is happening to the brotherly Syrian people, and how much longer will we grant the Syrian regime one period after another so it can commit more massacres against its people?” Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal asked ministers at the start of the League session.

“At our meeting today I call for decisive measures, after the failure of the half-solutions,” he said. “The Arab League should ... open all channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and give all forms of support to it.” Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said he was proposing a new joint Arab-UN monitoring team to Syria, replacing an Arab mission beset by problems since it began work in December.

The Sudanese general leading the Arab observers quit on Sunday. “I won’t work one more time in the framework of the Arab League,” said General Mohammed al-Dabi, whose appointment had been criticised because of Sudan’s own rights record. “I performed my job with full integrity and transparency but I won’t work here again as the situation is skewed,” he added.

Criticised by Syria’s opposition for failing to halt violence, the 165-strong Arab mission suffered from internal dissent, as well as logistics and training problems. The idea of a joint Arab-UN mission has won only a tepid response from UN diplomats.

The Saudi minister criticised the UNSC’s failure to back the Arab plan for Syria. Elaraby said the veto, cause of much Arab frustration, exposed the failings of the Council’s voting system.

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