Editorial: Not one to let slip by Friday, 23 December 2011 03:00

Lingering hope and outright horror continued to occupy talking heads as the advance team of the Arab League observer mission, tasked to monitor compliance with the peace plan that Syria originally agreed to six weeks ago and then stalled until on Monday they finally signed the protocol, arrived in Damascus while at least a score of people were killed as troops went ahead with their crackdown in the flashpoint city of Homs in the centre and in Idlib and Deraa provinces in the north and south of the country.

Yesterday’s killings followed, what has been dubbed an “unprecedented massacre” when, according to UK-based Syrian Observatory, regime forces surrounded and killed 111 people in Idlib province, a day after Damascus signed the monitoring protocol. Observers attribute the escalation in the military crackdown to a government in a hurry to crush the uprising before the Arab League monitors arrive for fear of a “buffer zone” emerging in an area close to the border with Turkey. That has led an already sceptical main opposition Syrian National Council that sees the signing of the protocol as another ploy by President Bashar Al Assad’s regime to buy time to demand an emergency Security Council meeting and call on the League and UN to provide security to the civilians.

While Damascus could still try its stalling tactic and fall back into the same spirit of denial that characterised his Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem’s press conference even on Monday, Assad must make the most of League’s window to him. He must realise that the League will have no patience for another round of stalling, given its reputation at stake. And he can’t rely on old time allies for backing at the UN for long, with Russia mounting pressure on him to go for dialogue as a way out of the crisis and Iran that was one with him on Damascus facing a Western conspiracy seeing a good thing in the League plan.

With the arrival of the League officials led by Samir Seif Al Yazal in Damascus, the choice for Assad is clear. Take it -- withdraw troops from the streets, release prisoners and get to the table for an honest dialogue with the opposition as the plan demands – or lump it and be damned by history.

The SNC, meanwhile, must redouble its efforts to shore up the opposition ranks and convince the citizenry it truly represents a viable alternative and can ensure a smooth transition to a new political system.