Editorial: Faltering mission Monday, 23 January 2012 05:11

Saudi Arabia’s decision yesterday to withdraw its observers from Syria on the ground that the Arab League monitoring mission has failed to end ten months of bloodshed, though not expected, may not have come as a complete surprise. The direction of events in Syria in the past few weeks indicates that despite the best efforts of the League, there is a great degree of uncertainty about the future of the mission. This is certainly disappointing because when the monitors first landed in Syria, optimism and hope were very high, not only among the League countries, but even among Syrians who have taken to the streets against the regime of Bashar Al Assad. That hope has been seriously dented, with some even calling the mission a failure. The presence of the monitors had no deterrent effect on the regime which unabashedly continues its repression.

A meeting of the League’s foreign ministers held in Cairo on Sunday decided to extend the mission by a month and Saudi is among the countries which believe that an extension will be futile when the mission itself has failed in its objectives.

The Syrian opposition too is frustrated with the results of the mission. They want the file to be referred to the United Nations for further action and want Syrian officials to be prosecuted for crimes against the humanity under the international law by the International Criminal Court (ICC). But the UN has until now taken a backseat on Syria, letting the League deal with the crisis. Unlike Libya, Syria poses several complications which make an outside intervention extremely difficult.

The exit of Saudi has dealt a serious blow to the monitor mission. It speaks of the deep fissures in the Arab ranks and is an indication of the hurdles ahead. What the League needs is unity and the determination to implement its decisions for which all members need to look at the issue from the same angle: the angle of Syrian people who are stuck in a revolution that is struggling to succeed.

Reports said the League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo would call for the creation of a unity government within two months to prepare for early parliamentary and presidential elections. The unity government would be responsible for setting up an independent commission of inquiry into the war crimes committed by Syrian security forces and restoring security and stability in Syria.

Having rejected all calls to quit, Assad is unlikely to listen to more calls to quit. But the League needs to convey its message sternly so that the Syrian president knows that ultimately, he will be held to account.