Syria Voices Reservation on Arab League Resolution Part and Parcel
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/10/16/375989.htm
Oct 17, 2011
CAIRO, (SANA) – Syria's Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ambassador Youssef Ahmad on Sunday announced Syria's reservation on the Arab League's resolution part and parcel, including its wording and particularly naming Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as head of the Arab Ministerial Committee.
Ambassador Ahmad said that there are substantial reasons and considerations related to the biased and negative role played by Qatar both in terms of politics and media towards the events in Syria which constitute escalation d instigation against Syria and distortion of the facts regarding what is actually happening in it.
He said that Syria has reservations over the resolution's inclusion of an invitation to holding comprehensive dialogue at the Arab League headquarters, affirming that Syria is an independent and sovereign country led by a legitimate authority capable of running the country's affairs and protecting its security and the safety of its citizens, and that any national dialogue can only be held in Syria with the participation of all social groups regardless of their affiliation with the presence of the Arab League according to comprehensive guarantees and mechanism that are agreed upon.
In this context, Ambassador Ahmad stressed that Syria's Arab and regional position hasn't and won't change from being an element of security and stability, and that it cannot become introverted or abandon its stances and role in directing Arab common actions and defending Arab causes and rights.
The statement was made during the urgent Arab League Council meeting on the level of Foreign Ministers which was held at the request of the Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss the situation in Syria.
The meeting was concluded by forming a ministerial committee tasked with communicating with the Syrian leadership and opposition in preparation for holding a comprehensive national dialogue conference at the Arab League headquarters under its auspices within 15 days.
Earlier in the meeting, Ambassador Ahmad said in a speech that the security situation in Syria is leaning towards clam and stability, adding that this helps implement the laws, decrees and steps that bolster liberties and political, social, and economic reforms without external interference.
During his speech at an Arab League extraordinary meeting, the Ambassador pointed out that President Bashar al-Assad issued a presidential decision on forming a national committee to prepare a new draft constitution, and that the committee includes figures for their integrity and competence, representing all Syrian including the opposition.
Ambassador Ahmad added that Syria's efforts to restore security and stability are still hindered by criminal activities of armed groups with known agendas, purposes and external connections.
He called for activating the recommendations set by the Arab League Secretary-General after his visit to Syria in September 10th in order to ensure that the League's General Secretariat can inspect the reality of the events and the process of the reform program in addition to its participation in the sessions of national dialogue.
The Ambassador went on to note that over a month has passed since the Arab League issued a statement on developments in Syria to which Syria expressed reservations due to its negativity and some actions by some sides at the Arab League, stressing that these actions didn't reflect a serious intent for reaching an agreement between the League and Syria to cooperate and help end the crisis, avoid bloodshed and prevent foreign interference.
He added that the Secretary-General's report apparently didn't suit some sides which sought to neutralize it, taking advantage of the negative neutrality and indifference prevailing in Arab League meetings towards the serious repercussions of developments in the region which eventually aim at ending the Arab-Israeli conflict at the expense of the nation's interest and pressuring Palestinians to offer concessions, all of which will ultimately have repercussions on all Arabs.
Ambassador Ahmad pointed out to the statements of Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf Bin Alawai who affirmed his country's commitment to Syria's security and stability, underlining the importance of the announced reforms and voicing belief that the Syrians can resolve their problems on their own, adding that such a stance isn't unusual from Oman or from any other Arab country that realizes that crises in one Arab country will affect all others.
He stressed that internal crises mustn't become an opportunity for settling scores over arguments or differences in politics, nor must they become means to serve foreign agendas that pretend to protect Arab interests and security.
The Ambassador noted that in opposite to the Arab inert if not negative movement towards Syria, the most prominent development in the last month was the US-European movement at the UN Security Council to issue a resolution which aims at blockading and punishing Syria and creating appropriate conditions for foreign interference in Syria's affairs.
"This movement was courageously confronted by Russia and China based on conviction that the resolution was based on the culture of confrontation and threats of imposing sanctions which target the Syrian people. That draft law ignored the acts committed by the armed terrorist groups which claimed, from September 13th to October 14th only, the lives of 160 army and law-enforcement personnel and left 850 others injured, a third of which suffering from permanent disabilities." He elaborated.
He pointed out that the weapons found with terrorists included Israeli hand grenades and machineguns, and that these weapons were used by the armed opposition to kill the Syrian people, yet not a single Arab figure expressed condemnation of these acts.
He added "We, in Syria, thought that the criminal acts of these armed groups must elicit balanced reactions from Arabs and that they would condemn targeting the army, the public and private properties, and the civilian lives or at least the attacks perpetrated against the Syrian embassies, the last of which was the attack on the Syrian Embassy in Cairo yesterday, but regretfully the persons behind this criminal act are connected financially and logistically with sides in Arab states which we won't name for now."
He stressed that the Arab indifference towards the acts of violence committed by armed terrorist groups reflects a grave fact that the concepts of Arab common actions and some Arab policies are now governed by rules and considerations other than Arab common interest.
Ambassador Ahmad expressed Syria's appreciation of the rational stance of Russia and China because it restored much balance, justice and credibility to the standards of international work in face of the brutal desire of some sides of the international community to make the Security Council a tool for interfering in the affairs of other countries, adding that Syria believes that the Arab League must shoulder its responsibilities and to act in accordance with the information that the Russian-Chinese stance is based upon along with the recommendations of the League's Secretary-General.
"In this context, we don't think that the Arab League's mission is limited to issuing a negative and ineffective statement that doesn't pose a true vision reflecting honest Arab will to preserve Syria's security and stability, help it emerge from this crisis, confront attempts at foreign interference in its internal affairs, and encouraging all sides to engage in constructive national dialogue," he said.
The Ambassador affirmed that Syria is confident in the Arabs ability to shoulder their responsibilities in Syria in accordance to article 8 of the Arab League charter which stipulates for respecting every country's government and not taking actions to change it.
He also called for making serious efforts to stop the instigating, methodical media operation on the part of Arab media organizations operating under the cover of political and intellectual independence while they are in fact completely removed from professionalism, ethics, credibility and the Arab media code of honor.
Ambassador Ahmad said that those in a relevant position of authority are responsible for every drop of blood shed in Syria because of the rallying, instigation and propaganda undertaken by mass media against Syria and their intentional suppression of the civilian, army and police victim murdered by terrorist groups.
He went on to say that these channels continue to fabricate fake stories about dead people who are actually still alive and adopt any story even if it's supported by a blurry composite 10-second video or unknown ghosts labeled as "eye witnesses" or "juridical activist" in order to weave lies about massacres committed by the army and security forces and besieging cities and towns, all of which aims at demonizing the authority in Syria at any cost with their ultimate goal being summoning any form of foreign interference in Syrian affairs.
"Naturally, this includes the cheap performance of channels broadcasting from Arab capitals and financed by sources which I believe are known to us and to all of you, wearing falsely the mantle of Islam and employing men claiming to possess knowledge and forgot the teachings of God that state that sedition is more grave than murder," the Ambassador said, adding that these channels still attempt to sow discord and hatred among Syrians and sic Muslims against each other, affirming that Syria has a detailed and documented record of these channels' performance and those who finance and support.
He pointed out to the strange and suspicious date for holding this meeting, hoping that it isn't in any way related to the failure of the US-European movement against Syria in the Security Council, adding that Syria will remain positive and open to any honest and effective Arab effort aiming at resolving the crisis without foreign interference.
Ambassador Ahmad added "In this context, we officially resubmit the Syrian initiative concerning enhancing the issues of democracy, reforms and human rights in the Arab states… it includes issuing a resolution by the Arab League that contains a comprehensive Arab vision regarding democracy and reforms in the Arab states and benefiting from the expertise of all countries in the fields of freedom, democracy, human rights, party pluralism, ensuring the right to express and law of protests.
"We, in Syria, will continue the reform program announced by President Bashar al-Assad… we'll continue meeting the public demands of our people, protecting their lives and properties, and defending Syria's security and stability. We assure that we will not allow terrorism and extremism to undermine the independence of our national stances. We reiterate our appreciation for the stances of the friendly countries that realized the plot targeting Syria and rejected all forms of foreign intervention in the Syrian internal affairs.
"We call on the Arab League to follow the example of Russia and China in confronting the US-European efforts aiming at making the Security Council a tool for interfering in countries' internal affairs and making the Arab League a tool for the US-Western agendas." Ambassador Ahmad concluded.
الجامعة تدعو إلى مؤتمر حوار بين السلطة والمعارضة خلال 15 يوماً تحت مظلتها بالقاهرة...المعارضة ترفض.. ودمشق تتحفظ: الحوار على الأرض السورية وبحضور الجامعة
Arab League calls for a dialogue between the government and the opposition within 15 days under its umbrella in Cairo ... the opposition refuses to .. Damascus and reservations: Dialogue on the ground and in the presence of the Syrian League
http://www.alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=110545
http://backupurl.com/lilmop
17/10/2011
Syria reserved yesterday on the Arab League statement issued at the conclusion of the emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the headquarters of the League in Cairo to discuss the situation in Syria.
He called the statement issued at the end of the meeting the Syrian Government and «opposition parties of all stripes» to a «the comprehensive national dialogue in the Arab League headquarters in 15 days».
The statement read by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said the Arab ministers called to «make the necessary contacts with the Syrian government and opposition parties of all stripes to start a conference of national and comprehensive dialogue at the League of Arab States and under its auspices within 15 days from the date of issuance of this decision in order to achieve the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and the desired change ». Syrian television quoted an official source yesterday as saying that any national dialogue is only to the Syrian territory, and the participation of all shades and classes of society and the presence of the Arab League, according to a comprehensive safeguards and mechanisms to be agreed upon.
The representative of Syria in the Arab League Ambassador Ahmed Yousef said that Syria has custody of the invitation of the League to the dialogue, stressing that «the independent and sovereign state led by a legitimate authority able to manage all the affairs of the country and protect its security and interests».
The members of the National Council Syrian opposition in televised remarks after the end of the Ministerial Meeting of refusing any dialogue with the authority, insisting that their representing (unified) demand is to topple the regime.
The text of a statement of the Arab League to send a ministerial committee chaired by Syria, Qatar, with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Arab Foreign Ministers of the Sultanate of Oman, Sudan, Algeria and Egypt.
The Arab diplomatic sources told «alwatan.sy»: «Syria rejected this statement as a whole, and objected to Qatar's chairmanship of the Ministerial Committee, especially as the foreign minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim came to Cairo with the specific intention», according to the sources, being taken for a meeting with Arab foreign ministers (without the presence of Syria) on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting talking about «freezing Syria's membership in the League», which encountered a huge rejection on the Arab level, that's why they returned to the theme of the Ministerial Committee.
The sources said that the informal meeting called by the Qatar ministerial meeting did not invite Syria, «which raised the ire of countries opposed to the current League policy toward Damascus».
The sources said that the escalation was in the beginning of the meeting as it appeared from the words, but «the debate in the closed session was generally constructive and calm», the sources pointed out that «the positions of many countries toward Syria was good, including the Saudi position, Sudanese and Yemeni, Iraqi, Algerian and Omani and Lebanese».
In a speech at the beginning of the meeting considered the Ambassador Ahmad said that the timing of the call for the meeting «strange and suspicious» he said, adding: please do not be linked to the failure of the movement of the United States and Europe against Syria, but we thought it », in reference to moving the U.S. and the EU to adopt a resolution in the Security Council aimed at Syria .
Having denounced the US-European stance of the events in Syria, Ahmad welcomed the position of Russia and China, which «have faced US-European move with courage and wisdom» calling on Arab states that «their responsibilities and that is the position of» the two countries.
He added: «We highly appreciate the Syrian position the supervisor and the rational for both Russia and China, and we consider that re-balance and credibility to international labor standards».
Russia and China have used the veto power on the fourth of October now to prevent a decision by the Security Council against Syria. Also launched Ahmed violent campaign on «Arab media» because of its coverage «incitement» to the events of Syria, and he blamed the bloodshed in the country, he said in this regard: «We call on our Arab brothers to strive to stop the process media inflammatory systemic and targeted exerted by the Arab media works under the guise of principle and professional is a far cry from the professional and ethical », adding that« the purpose of abetting the demonization of power and the prestige of the State », these channels loaded with the responsibility of every drop of blood being shed in Syria.
GCC's Request for AL Extraordinary Meeting Is Conspiracy against Syria, al-Sayyed Ahmad Says
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/10/17/376038.htm
Oct 17, 2011
CAIRO, (SANA)- The Gulf Cooperation Council countries' call for an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League on the ministerial level to discuss the situation in Syria is a conspiracy against Syria and not for finding solution to its problems, Director of Yafa Center for Studies and Researches in Cairo Rifaat al-Sayyed Ahmad said.
In an article entitled "To Dr. Nabil al-Arabi…the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Wants to Slaughter Syria and Not Helping the Syrians" published in the Egyptian Ad-Dustour Newspaper on Monday, al-Sayyed Ahmad asserted that these countries don't work for the freedom of the Syrian people but to disengage their ties with the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance to serve the US interests.
He said: "Syria, like most Arab countries, needs a political reform and combating corruption," accusing the Gulf Council of seeking to issue a resolution justifies no-fly zone over Syria then occupying it as it did before in Libya under the pretext of protecting it.
Al-Sayyed Ahmad described the meeting as "a conspiracy" to besiege Hezbollah Party and Hamas movement and the Arab resistance to whom Syria has ensured the protection and support, saying that the Israeli-Western alliance and its traditional allies do not want this resistance, but a new Middle East devoid of it.
He addressed the Arab League Secretary General Dr. Nabil al-Arabi by saying "the approval of the GCC' request to condemn Syria is an attempt to pave the way for its occupation and it is shameful for that to be done during your term in office,"
The writer added the Syrians without doubt want reform without any foreign interference in their country's internal affairs, pointing out that the GCC called for this meeting according to the desire of Washington and Israel.
Al-Sayyed Ahmad advised Dr. al-Arabi not to imbrue his hands with the Arabs blood, calling him to lead, along with the honest Arab Ministers, the ship of dialogue and reconciliation and not that of war, aggression and internal disturbances.
Syrian opposition in Egypt rejects AL decision to hold national dialogue
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/17/c_131196427.htm
English.news.cn 2011-10-17 17:56:20
CAIRO, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Syrian opposition in Egypt rejected the Arab League (AL) decision to call all parties in and out Syria to hold national dialogue in the AL headquarters in Cairo, official news agency MENA reported Monday.
In an urgent meeting Sunday, the AL foreign ministers called on the Syrian government and the opposition parties to hold a meeting in the AL headquarters within 15 days.
Considering AL's decision useless, spokesperson for the Syrian opposition in Egypt Mohammed al-Hemsy said "no one has the right to make dialogue with such a regime whose hands were splashed with the innocent Syrians blood."
The AL decision is a sort of gift to the Syrian regime, he added.
According to latest UN figures, some 3,000 people have died since protests began in mid-March in Syria.
Syria slams GCC call to suspend membership in AL
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/17/c_131196413.htm
English.news.cn 2011-10-17 17:39:28
DAMASCUS, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Syria strongly criticized Monday the Gulf Cooperation Council for calling a day earlier for an Arab League meeting to suspend Syria's membership.
Gulf countries seeking to suspend Syria's membership in the Arab League over its bloody crackdown on protesters failed to gain enough support Sunday to push the measure through, reflecting deep divisions among the body's member nations.
Just after the meeting with Syrian diplomats, Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim made no mention of a possible suspension and instead gave Syria a 15-day deadline to enact a cease-fire.
The Arab League also agreed to create a committee led by Qatar to oversee the situation in Syria and said a national dialogue between Syrian officials and the opposition would take place at the AL headquarters in Cairo.
In an editorial, the state-owned al-Baath newspaper said "some Gulf countries are promoting for covert sectarian agendas," adding that "they have mistakenly thought that time is ripe now to control the Arab League and liquidate accounts with Syria that has shown defiant stands."
"The request of the GCC countries at the present movement is to legitimize a council that has been formed by the Turkish and US intelligence in Istanbul," said the paper in reference to the Syrian National Council recently established by the Syrian opposition parties.
It said some states are trying to introduce themselves as " mediators, who are unwelcome, in the Syrian crisis ... it's a satanic game that implies dangerous betting and shrouded with wholesale losses. The results of the race are not guaranteed in parallel with the progressing Syrian reforms."
Syria blames the seven-month-old unrest on foreign conspiracy and frequently says it's persisting with the program of reforms announced few months ago by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quell nationwide protests.
Al-Baath paper said proposing the suspension of Syria's membership in the Arab League aims at "fragmenting Syria politically" and "dividing it later geographically and demographically."
Syrian state TV reported late Sunday that Damascus was not eager to hold the dialogue in Cairo, suggesting it should be held in Syria instead.
أوغلو والعربي يبحثان هاتفياً التطورات في سوريا
Davutoglu discuss regional and Arab developments in Syria
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=1be9af5fa373d16f9e5da78335731c0d&ar=772724406
Monday - October 17 - 2011 - 15:16:26
المعلم يتسلم نسخة من أوراق اعتماد السفير الإيراني الجديد
Al-Moallem Receives Credentials of Iran's New Ambassador to Syria
http://www.sana.sy/ara/2/2011/10/17/376036.htm
http://sana.sy/eng/21/2011/10/17/376048.htm
Oct 17, 2011
Arsal residents fear large-scale Syrian incursion
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Oct-17/151472-arsal-residents-fear-large-scale-syrian-incursion.ashx
October 17, 2011 12:40 AM
By Nicholas Blanford
The Daily Star
ARSAL, Lebanon: Residents of the isolated border town of Arsal, in the eastern Bekaa, say they fear that the recent cross-border forays by Syrian troops are a precursor to a larger military operation against them on the pretext of halting the smuggling of arms to the Syrian opposition.
"We are almost certain it's going to happen. We saw pro-Assad demonstrators in Damascus calling for the destruction of Arsal. They think we are smuggling weapons into Syria," said Ali Hojeiry, the mayor of Arsal, as members of the municipality nodded in agreement inside his smoke-filled office Friday .
Eleven days ago, a farmer was killed in the remote hills east of Arsal when, according to local residents, Syrian soldiers backed by tanks and armored vehicles penetrated several kilometers inside Lebanon and sprayed machine gun fire in the direction of Lebanese farms. A few days earlier, farm buildings were damaged by tank fire during another incursion. The cross-border penetrations, the latest occurringat dawn Friday morning, have forced most local farmers to flee the area.
Until recently, Syrian border violations tended to occur in the Wadi Khaled district of Akkar, consisting of Syrian troops slipping just over the frontier near the villages of Hnaider and Mouanse or firing machine gun rounds into Lebanese territory.
But the recent Syrian attention on Arsal appears to be connected to allegations of weapons being smuggled through the remote passes of the rugged and barren mountains that mark the border in east Lebanon. The prices of black market weapons have skyrocketed in recent months. Arms dealers say the unrest in Syria is fuelling the price hike, but most of the smuggling so far appears to be on an ad hoc and individual basis rather than a more organized transfer of arms to the opposition.
Certainly, Arsal has a history of smuggling commercial goods to and from Syria as do many Lebanese villages along the border, but the residents insisted that no weapons were being dispatched across the frontier.
"Not one gun has crossed the border from here and we have not received one member of the Syrian opposition," said Mohammad, a member of Arsal's municipal council.
Some residents claimed that Syrian troops are massing along the border in preparation for an attack on Arsal.
"The question is: What can we do?" said one resident who asked not to be identified. "We feel like we are hostages in the Hezbollah government today."
The fears of a Syrian invasion of Arsal are probably exaggerated. While it is evident that Syrian troops have penetrated on occasions across the border, and may have set up a temporary presence on Lebanese soil, they are limiting themselves to the remote territory several kilometers east of the town. Indeed, it is often forgotten that there remain sizeable numbers of Syrian troops on Lebanese soil, most notably in the hills south of Deir al-Ashayer and east of Kfar Kouk in the Rashaya district of the Western Bekaa.
The government has played down reports of Syrian forays into Lebanon and insists there is good coordination between the Lebanese and Syrian authorities. Friday, Lebanese and Syrian army officers met at the Dabbousiyeh border crossing in the north to discuss how to "take more measures to prevent smuggling through illegal border crossings," a statement said.
Still, it is easy to understand the paranoia that has gripped the 40,000 residents of Arsal. The town is geographically isolated, linked to the rest of Lebanon only by a single road that winds over the stark sepia-hued mountains that surround the town. More pertinently, Arsal faces political and sectarian isolation being the only Sunni town in an area that is predominantly populated by Shiites who support Hezbollah and back the Assad regime.
Furthermore, Arsal has a history of opposition to the Assad regime dating back to the mid-1970s and highlighted by the participation of residents in the anti-Syrian "independence intifada" rallies of February and March 2005.
The cluster of farmsteads exposed to the Syrian troop incursions lie in an area known as Khirbet Daoud, about 10 kilometers east of Arsal. They are reached by a rutted stone track that winds across an arid, desolate wind-blasted landscape criss-crossed by dry river beds. The border runs along the crest of the barren Anti Lebanon mountains, although Syrian farmers long ago encroached onto Lebanese territory, planting and cultivating orchards of apricot, pear and almond trees and feuding with aggrieved Lebanese landowners.
The last presence of the Lebanese state is a police checkpoint on the eastern outskirts of the town. There are no Lebanese troops deployed east of Arsal, underlining the sense of vulnerability felt by local farmers.
There were no Syrian soldiers to be seen at the end of a tense hour-long drive through the wilderness. But, according to Hussein Wehbe, a farmer who lives with his family in a two-room house and adjacent tent, Syrian troops deployed on a hill a few hundred meters to the east that morning.
"They fired shots in the air and stayed on the hill for about half an hour," he said as his wife stooped over a fire to brew a pot of Turkish coffee. "If I take one step closer to the border from here, they will shoot at me."
Asked why he chose to stay when most other farmers had fled, he said, "This is my land and I'm not going to go anywhere else."
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