Arabs Say Syria Not Honoring Roadmap, Assad Vows to 'Win Any Battle'
Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss Syria's failure to implement an Arab proposal to end a crackdown on protests, the Arab League said on Sunday.
A League statement said the Cairo meeting was called because of "the continuation of violence and because the Syrian government did not implement its commitments in the Arab plan to resolve the Syrian crisis."
A foreign ministers task force which negotiated the deal that Syria signed on to last Wednesday will hold a preparatory meeting on Friday, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed Sunday that “the Syrian people’s defiance in the face of sedition, terrorism and foreign intervention” was the basis of “Syria’s steadfastness against the conspiracies,” state-run news agency SANA quoted him as saying.
“Syria is strong through its people, national choices and free decision and it is keen on fully restoring its national rights,” SANA quoted Assad as telling “clan seniors and political, economic and social figures at al-Raqqa Governorate building after performing the Eid al-Adha prayer” at al-Nour mosque in the northern town.
“We have no choice but to win any battle that may target our sovereignty and national decision,” Assad pledged, as quoted by SANA.
The announcements came as a Britain-based Syrian rights group said security forces killed another 11 civilians during anti-regime protests on Sunday, the first day of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha.
Nine of the civilians were killed in Homs, the flashpoint central city where protests against Assad's rule were held in most districts despite a weeks-long military crackdown.
Most of the deaths occurred in the Baba Amro neighborhood of Homs, where clashes have raged for days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received by Agence France Presse.
The latest deaths bring to at least 60 the number of people killed since Assad's government signed on to the Arab League peace plan on November 2.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Saturday warned that that the failure of the peace deal -- which calls on President Bashar al-Assad to begin talks with opposition and end violence against protesters -- would be "catastrophic" for Syria and the region.
His deputy, Ahmed Ben Hilli, told AFP that Assad was given two weeks to start the talks but his regime should have ended the violence on November 2, when Syria agreed the proposal.
Several countries in the 22-member organization have been pushing for a freeze of Syria's membership, as the Arab League had done to Libya in February after its former regime cracked down on protests.
But the Arab League has ruled out support for foreign intervention, which it backed in Libya's case with its call for a no fly zone.
over 12 years
Surprise surprise! They will never change
over 12 years
By waiting until Saturday, another 100 will die.
over 12 years
if the arabs have any guts they should go and get assad NOW. take him out
over 12 years
@marie
If the Arabs had any guts they would've straighten themselves out first at home before "straightening up" a reflection of themselves in another country.
over 12 years
according to APF they are fighting for days in Baba Amro for days, according to LCC the protest are unarmed, can't an army capture an unarmed neighberhood within couple hours???????????????
who is kidding who . Wake up people
over 12 years
"win any battle" is good news.. this is usually the kind of words we hear from dictators when they are on their way down the pit.. remember saddam "mother of all battles", Osama, Qadafe "we did not use our strength yet".. all this is good news.. if Bashar was comfortable he would not use such foolosh language as earthquakes and such.. he is finished.. and his end will be worse than qadafe. it could be a month from now or a year from the now, nevertheless the outcome is known
over 12 years
If you are smart, you will resign and save the Arab world and the rest of the world another insult.
over 12 years
just like you won the battle of the golan
Ya Bashar, the Arab League will give Russia and China the cover they need to roll you in the UN. get ready for it. They are getting the rope ready