'Scores killed' in day of Syria violence
Dec 20, 2011 Al Jazeera
Assad has decreed death penalty for anyone caught distributing arms with
"aim of committing terror acts" [Reuters]
At least 82 people are reported to have been killed in a day of violence
across Syria, less than a week before an Arab League delegation is due to
visit the country as part of a deal to end the bloodshed.
Activists reported the deaths on Tuesday after heavy fighting in the
province of Idlib and elsewhere.
The violence comes a day after at least 100 people were reported killed
across Syria, and just days before the scheduled arrival of a team of Arab
observers.
Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said: "Activists and
opposition figures say killings in Idlib area are very large."
"Dozens have been killed but people differ who were among those killed;
some say they were defectors, others say armed men who oppose the
government," she said.
The team is to arrive in the Syrian capital, Damascus, later this week as
part of a deal signed between the government of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad and the Arab League in order to end the violence.
"It's a completely new mission ... and it depends on implementation in
good faith," Nabil el-Araby, the Arab League chief, told the Reuters news
agency on Tuesday.
He said that the initial team would go to Syria on Thursday, with the rest
due to arrive by the end of December. The Arab League wants to get 500
monitors into Syria by the end of this month.
"In a week's time, from the start of the operation, we will know (if Syria
is complying)," el-Araby said.
The advance team will include security, legal and administrative
observers, with human rights experts expected to follow, a League official
said.
Syria stalled for weeks before signing the protocol on Monday to accept
the monitors who will check its compliance with the Arab plan for an end
to violence, withdrawal of troops from the streets, release of prisoners
and dialogue with the opposition.
Change in stance
The change in stance had come as the Arab League threatened to ask the UN
Security Council to adopt its peace plan for Syria, broadening the chances
of international action.
As international pressure mounted, the UN General Assembly voted to
condemn Syria's use of force to quell protests, with Russia and China
abstaining instead of voting against.
Damascus said Russia, its longtime ally and arms supplier, had urged it to
sign the protocol on the Arab monitors.
Syria agreed to another Arab peace plan in early November, but the
violence raged on, prompting Arab states to announce financial sanctions
and travel bans on Syrian officials.
Elaraby said those measures would remain until monitors begin reporting
back. Arab ministers would decide the next step.
He said Gulf states would contribute about 60 of a 150-strong monitoring
team led by a Sudanese general, which would expect freedom of movement and
communication, including access to prisons and hospitals.
Journalists would also accompany the team, he said.
Al Jazeera's Amin said that "people on the ground hope that the observers’
presence on the ground would deter the government and would actually
decrease the level of violence and may even encourage more people to take
to the streets and put more pressure on the government".
"Now the government is betting that the observers would actually try to
verify some of its own account on what’s happening," Amin said.
"It's a very challenging task for the Arab League, they have never
undertaken such mission before, and the rules of engagement are still to
be worked out with the Syrian government.
"Will the monitors be able to travel freely on their own, will they feel
safe to travel to places like Idlib and Homs? Probably events on the
ground will dictate how will this mission evolve."
Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said on Tuesday that Assad had
decreed the death penalty for anyone caught distributing arms "with the
aim of committing terrorist acts".
Violence continues
The Arab League deal does not appear to have ended the bloodshed.
Syrian pro-democracy activists are deeply sceptical about Assad's
commitment to the plan, which, if implemented, could embolden
demonstrators demanding an end to his 11-year rule.
In recent months, their peaceful protests have increasingly given way to
armed confrontations often led by army deserters.
Some opposition leaders have called for foreign military intervention to
protect civilians from Assad's forces.
The Syrian authorities have made it hard for anyone to know what is going
on in their troubled country. They have barred most foreign journalists
and imposed tight curbs on local ones.
The UN has said more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since
anti-Assad protests erupted in March, inspired by a wave of uprisings
across the Arab world.
Several weeks ago Damascus said 1,100 members of the security forces had
been killed by "armed terrorist gangs".
Fierce fighting in northern Syria before Arab mission
By Erika Solomon and Dominic Evans | Reuters – Dec. 20, 2011
BEIRUT - Fierce fighting has continued in the northern Syrian
province of Idlib, with activists saying 50 people were killed there and
elsewhere on Tuesday, shortly before officials arrive to prepare for an
Arab League effort to end nine months of bloodshed.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 people were
killed in fighting with President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the northern
province of Idlib and 14 members of his security forces died in a rebel
ambush in the south. The overall death toll on Tuesday was at least 47, it
said.
Idlib, on Syria's northern border with Turkey, has seen fierce fighting
recently. The Observatory reported that security forces machinegunned
soldiers deserting their army base there on Monday, killing more than 60,
and said rebels had damaged or destroyed 17 military vehicles since
Sunday.
The state news agency SANA said security forces killed five "terrorists"
in Deraa province on Monday night. It also said Assad had decreed the
death penalty for anyone caught distributing arms "with the aim of
committing terrorist acts."
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told Reuters in Cairo that an
advance team would go to Syria on Thursday, with the 150 monitors due to
arrive by end-December.
"It's a completely new mission ... and it depends on implementation in
good faith," he said.
Syria stalled for weeks before signing a protocol on Monday to accept the
monitors who will check its compliance with an Arab plan for an end to
violence, withdrawal of troops from the streets, release of prisoners and
dialogue with the opposition.
"In a week's time, from the start of the operation, we will know (if Syria
is complying)," Elaraby said.
Syrian pro-democracy activists are deeply skeptical about Assad's
commitment to the plan, which, if implemented, could embolden
demonstrators demanding an end to his 11-year rule.
France said it hoped the monitors could carry out their mission quickly.
But it also said Assad had a record of broken pledges and that Monday's
violence showed there "isn't a moment to lose."
"For months we have seen Bashar al-Assad not keep to commitments he made
to his people and he has increased his efforts to play for time in the
face of the international community," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard
Valero said.
In recent months, peaceful protests have increasingly given way to armed
confrontations often led by army deserters.
Some opposition leaders have called for foreign military intervention to
protect civilians from Assad's forces.
In a show of military power, state television said on Tuesday the air
force and navy both held live-fire exercises aimed at deterring any attack
on Syria by land or sea.
The Syrian authorities have made it hard for anyone to know what is going
on in their troubled country. They have barred most foreign journalists
and imposed tight curbs on local ones.
The British-based Observatory said three more people had been killed in
violence on Tuesday, two in the city of Homs and one in a village in Idlib
province, the scene of a sustained military crackdown in the past three
days.
SANA said a captain in the security forces had died of wounds inflicted by
"terrorists" a week ago in the city of Hama.
U.N. TOLL
The United Nations has said more than 5,000 people have been killed in
Syria since anti-Assad protests erupted in March, inspired by a wave of
uprisings across the Arab world.
Several weeks ago Damascus said 1,100 members of the security forces had
been killed by "armed terrorist gangs." An armed insurrection against
Assad has gathered pace since then.
Syria agreed to the Arab peace plan in early November, but the violence
raged on, prompting Arab states to announce financial sanctions and travel
bans on Syrian officials.
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Syria,
which combined with the unrest itself have pushed the economy into a sharp
decline. The Syrian pound fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday to more than 55
pounds per dollar, 17 percent down from the official rate before the
crisis erupted.
Arab rulers want to halt a slide towards a possible civil war in Syria
that could shake a region already riven by rivalry between non-Arab
Shi'ite power Iran and Sunni Arab heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia.
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