Editorial: Confusion in Syria Monday, 02 January 2012 04:36

Hope was very high among Syrian protesters and the international community when a team of Arab League monitors set foot in Syria to check whether President Bashar Al Assad is keeping his promise to end a crackdown on a nine month uprising against his regime. But that hope has withered a little, which is something unexpected, and questions are being asked about the efficacy of the mission and its ability to function impartially. More unfortunately, the mission was mired in a controversy when its Sudanese head said he was reassured by the first impressions of Homs, one of the main centres of unrest. His statement was a huge relief to Bashar Al Assad, who despite mercilessly cracking down on protesters, has maintained that his security forces were at the receiving end and haven’t overstepped their limits, while it badly disappointed Syrians who rose up against their ruler.

Yesterday, the Arab League advisory body called for the immediate withdrawal of the organisation’s monitoring mission saying it is allowing Damascus to cover up violence and abuses. The Arab Parliament, an 88-member advisory committee of delegates from the League member states, said that the violence was continuing to claim many victims. “For this to happen in the presence of Arab monitors has roused the anger of Arab people and negates the purpose of sending a fact-finding mission,” the organisation’s chairman, Ali Al Salem Al Dekbas, said, adding, “This is giving the Syrian regime an Arab cover for continuing its inhumane actions under the eyes and ears of the Arab League.”

There seems to be a lack of focus in the Arab League mission and a divergence of interests among its members. First of all, the head of the mission should have refrained from making a statement indirectly praising Bashar Al Assad, which has only helped sow confusion among the opposition groups which are fighting to oust him.

It is too early to judge the success of the mission, which is scheduled to remain in Syria for a month, and more monitors are on their way. But there is a need to inject a greater sense of purpose into the mission and make its operations on the ground more transparent and responsive to the needs of Syrians who have been targeted by the regime.

The Arab parliament has called on the League’s Secretary General Nabil Al Arabi to convene a meeting of foreign ministers to adopt a resolution to withdraw the mission immediately. A withdrawal of the monitors at this stage will be counterproductive and will defeat its very purpose, but the League ministers need to reasssess the mission’s performance so far and fill the gaps to reassure Syrians, Arabs and the international community.