Assad must go for Syria’s sake Thursday, 26 January 2012 03:59

The Arab League, this week, presented its plan to end the violence in Syria by urging President Bashar Al Assad to step down and “delegate powers to the vice president to liaise with a government of national unity.” The League also said it will take the issue to the United Nations Security Council and hinted at the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Syria.

Syria, not expectedly, answered by rejecting the Arab League plan calling it “a violation of its national sovereignty, a blatant interference in its internal affairs and a flagrant violation of the objectives for which the Arab League was established and a breach of Article VIII of its Charter.”

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani said that the Syrian plan “resembles the one on Yemen,” which resulted in President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreeing to step down. This similarity indicates that the Arab League initiative for Syria was engineered by Saudi Arabia since at that time of the GCC-brokered Yemen plan, Qatar had backed out. Also, the fact that all Arab countries, except Lebanon and Algeria, agreed to the Arab initiative for Syria goes to show Saudi influence. Moreover, Iraq, which either abstained or vetoed previous resolutions on the Syrian crisis, suddenly changed policy and agreed to the Arab League plan.

However, the situation in Syria is vastly different from that of Yemen.

For one, the Syrian president refused the plan outright while Yemen’s president agreed to it readily. One reason for that is because President Ali Abdullah Saleh did not have a strong international support while Syria has the backing of Iran and Russia. Also, Yemen’s president had lost the support of influential political figure, Hamid al-Ahmar, when the Arab Spring uprisings in the country started.

The continuous pressure from Saudi Arabia and the international community and the fact that Saleh was almost killed and was critically injured by a bomb planted in the presidential mosque were some of the reasons why Saleh had to accept the terms of the GCC plan. He had no choice.

We do not see this happening in Syria. As we speak, the violent crackdown against protesters continues despite Arab League monitors being in the country.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal told ministers during the meeting on Syria this week that it was withdrawing its observers from Syria because “…the Syrian government did not execute any of the elements of the Arab resolution plan.”

Despite the protests in Syria, President Assad still has the support of the people in Syria and his brother, Maher Al Assad, still has control over the Syrian army.

We have mentioned two directions, in previous columns, that Syria could take. One: Assad steps down and hands over power to an interim government, two, he stubbornly stays in power and the country descends into civil war.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem clarified that the proposal by the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to send peacekeeping troops was a result of the violence that Syria witnessed due to the excessive and prolonged use of force by the regime’s forces, which lead the people to take arms in order to defend themselves.

The Prime Minister added:  “I know this is a progressive idea because this is the first time that the Arab League will send a peacekeeping force to an Arab country.” He also recalled the example of the Arab Deterrent Force, which was sent during the civil war in Lebanon.

If Syria goes into a civil war, the government will weaken and a situation similar to what happened in Lebanon in 1976, when Arab countries created an intervention force called the Arab Deterrent Force, composed of forces from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, UAE and Libya, at the behest of then-Lebanese President Suleiman Frangieh as the civil war in the country escalated.

A reporter from the TV station, Syria Al Gad, also asked the Prime Minister: “The Syrian people are saying clearly that the President should be hanged and the regime should be toppled…?”

Arab League’s Secretary-General, Nabil Al Arabi answered: “Ok, go and kill him” while the Prime Minister interjected, “Who is preventing you from doing this?”

All these comments seem to indicate the situation in Syria is on the verge of civil war and foresees that the violence will continue with different factions fighting for power in the country.

In order to prevent this, countries that are supporting Syria, such as Iran and Russia, should put pressure on Assad to step down to avoid a bloody civil war. The Prime Minister already called on Syria’s international supporters to back the Arab League stand. He said: “We respect the Russian stand that there can be an Arab solution to the crisis, it should know that this is the Arab solution. We expect Moscow to support the Arab world at the Security Council.” He also called on Iran to “take the right decision on Syria.”

Assad should think and consider the Arab League plan carefully since this is probably his only way out in a fast deteriorating situation. It is not only him or his family who will loose a lot if Syria goes to civil war. Thousands of Syrian citizens will suffer and it will be a huge setback for the country’s economy, which will take a long time to recover.

We hope that the day will not come when the Arab League will convene another meeting in order to send an Arab Deterrent Force to Syria because of the civil war happening there. Assad should accept the Arab League plan and step down for the sake of his country and his people.

The Peninsula