SYRIA: Syria says it has responded 'positively' to an Arab League plan to end eight months of violence and asks for sanctions to be lifted

Record ID: 280082

  • Title: SYRIA: Syria says it has responded 'positively' to an Arab League plan to end eight months of violence and asks for sanctions to be lifted
  • Date: 6th December 2011
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (DECEMBER 5, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, JIHAD MAKDESI, BEFORE NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN MAKDISSI SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, JIHAD MAKDESI, SAYING: "The Syrian government has responded positively to the signature of the protocol between Syria and the Arab League." JOURNALISTS (
  • Embargoed: 21st December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7GBSGQWPXXXLK0NTT3ZTVJ1PC
  • Story Text: Syria has responded "positively" to a proposed Arab League plan aimed at ending eight months of violence, and expects the agreement to be signed soon, foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi said on Monday (December 5).
    "The Syrian government has responded positively to the signature of the protocol between Syria and the Arab League," he told journalists at a news conference in Damascus.
    Syria says the Arab proposal, which would include admitting observers, infringes its sovereignty, and has asked for clarification, but Makdesi said Damascus was still looking at the plan. The Syrian government has stalled more than once and reneged on promises to rein in its forces.
    The increasingly isolated country said it might agree "soon" to the peace plan but Makdesi said the Arab League decision to impose economic sanctions against Damascus would need to be annulled.
    "We asked the general secretariat and the secretary-general (of the Arab League) about the possibility of signing the agreement in Damascus in accordance with what was agreed upon in the Doha paper on October 30, 2011. (We also asked them) to consider all the decisions that were taken in the absence of Syria - such as those concerning (Arab) sanctions (against Syria) and the suspension of (Syria's) membership (in the Arab League) - to consider them null and void when we sign this agreement. This demand is in line with Arab declarations and is a reasonable demand," he said.
    Last month the Arab League announced unprecedented economic sanctions against Damascus for failing to halt the violence and agree to the initiative, but it has extended the deadline for signing the agreement several times since then.
    Makdesi was speaking after the expiry of the latest deadline to agree a League initiative aimed at halting President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on protests in which the United Nations says more than 4,000 people have been killed.
    In a display of muscle that could be intended to deter any idea of foreign military intervention, the army staged a major exercise with rockets, tanks and helicopters on Sunday.
    Makdesi said the military exercises were routine.
    "They are pre-scheduled, routine manoeuvres. We are not using them to send any messages. The goal of these manoeuvres is to be prepared. Syria lives amidst complicated surroundings, hence these routine procedures are needed, and it's reassuring to see how well they went," he said.
    Makdesi said Syria wanted statements by the Arab League secretary general and Qatar's prime minister opposing foreign intervention in Syria to be formally included in the agreement.
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