SYRIA: As their mandate comes to an end, Arab League observers work through the last day of the mission and await the result of Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting in Cairo on Sunday to discuss their report and a possible extension to the mission

Record ID: 280166

  • Title: SYRIA: As their mandate comes to an end, Arab League observers work through the last day of the mission and await the result of Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting in Cairo on Sunday to discuss their report and a possible extension to the mission
  • Date: 20th January 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JANUARY 19, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (AMVID OBTAINED BY REUTERS) ARAB LEAGUE OBSERVERS IN DAMASCUS GETTING INTO CONVOY AND DRIVING ARAB LEAGUE OBSERVERS ARRIVING AT THE OFFICES OF SYRIAN OFFICIALS IN DAMASCUS OBSERVERS MEETING SYRIAN OFFICIALS SECURITY FORCES OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT BUILDING IN DAMASCUS VARIOUS OF ARAB LEAGUE OBSERVERS INSPECTING WRECKAGE O
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8K7SF32EUITP0M037CIQO1X7U
  • Story Text: Deadly violence in Syria showed no sign of letting down on Thursday (January 19, 2012) as a month-long mandate for Arab League peace monitors was expiring.
    Arab League monitors inspected areas in Damascus on the last day of their mission according to an Arab League protocol signed with Syria to make sure the government complies with a deal to end a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 10 months of unrest.
    Amateur video obtained by Reuters showed the monitors meeting with officials at the Damascus governorate as well as witnessing the release of more prisoners after President Bashar al-Assad declared an amnesty on Sunday (January 15).
    Arab foreign ministers are due to weigh their next move at meetings in Cairo on Sunday, at odds over how to respond to the turmoil in which thousands of people have been killed.
    An Arab League source said this week Syria might let the monitors stay on, but without any broadening of their mandate.
    The leader of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood said world powers should pile diplomatic pressure on Assad and set up a no-fly zone and "safe zones" to help the opposition.
    In Hama, a vehicle carrying more Arab inspectors was surrounded by anti-regime protesters praising defected soldiers who now form the Free Syrian Army, the militant group fighting government forces.
    Syrian forces have retreated from rebel-held Zabadani under a local ceasefire. Residents of the town said troops and tanks that had besieged the insurgent-controlled town had pulled back after a deal to end days of fighting, according to an opposition leader.
    Dozens of armoured vehicles that had encircled Zabadani, a hill resort near the Lebanese border, withdrew to garrisons 8 km (5 miles) away.
    The U.N. Security Council is split over Syria, with Russia declaring it will work with China to block any move to authorise military intervention.
    Western powers have acknowledged that a Libya-style campaign in Syria would be fraught with danger, but want the council at least to condemn Assad's repression and impose sanctions.
    Reliable casualty figures are hard to come by in Syria, where media access has been limited and the outside world has had to piece together a picture from the conflicting accounts of the parties to an inchoate and increasingly bloody struggle.
    The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 454 civilians had been killed since the Arab observers deployed on Dec. 26 to verify whether an Arab peace plan was working.
    It said 146 members of the security forces, including 27 who had deserted to the opposition, had also been killed. The Observatory's figures did not include 26 people who authorities said were killed by a suicide bomber in Damascus on Jan. 6.
    The United Nations said on Dec. 13 that security forces had killed more than 5,000 people in Syria since March. A week later Damascus said insurgents had killed 2,000 security personnel.
  • Copyright Holder: AMATEUR VIDEO (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register