Nov 3 Anti-government

Arab League chief meets Syria opposition group
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=arab-league-chief-met-syria-opposition-group-2011-11-03
Thursday, November 3, 2011
CAIRO - Agence France-Presse

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi met Syrian opposition figures Thursday, a day after Damascus agreed to open talks with dissidents, a member of the Syrian National Council said.

Arabi "briefed us on the details of the Arab League initiative and its goals ... aimed at finding an Arab solution to the Syrian crisis based on the need to stop the bloodshed in Syria," said Samir al-Nashar, a member of the executive bureau of the SNC.

Damascus pledged on Wednesday to withdraw its forces from protest centres and engage in a dialogue with the opposition under an Arab League plan to end the bloodshed.

The SNC, the largest and most representative Syrian opposition grouping, on Wednesday urged the Arab League to freeze Syria's membership in the Arab League and recognise it as the sole representative of the Syrian opposition.

Asked if the SNC agrees to engage in talks with the Syrian regime, Nashar said: "No.

"We are not talking about a dialogue. We offered to engage in negotiations to move from a authoritarian regime to a democratic regime. And we ask that Bashar al-Assad resign.

"We told the secretary general of our fears that the regime will not keep its promises," Nashar added.

Asked if Syria gave guarantees concerning the implementation of the peace plan, Nashar said Arabi informed the delegation that an Arab ministerial task force will follow up on the implementation of the roadmap.

Meanwhile, an Arab diplomat said the ministerial task force is expected to visit Syria soon to follow up on the implementation of the agreement.

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AL plan receives mixed responses from Syrian oppositions
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/03/c_131228416.htm
English.news.cn 2011-11-03 23:31:16

DAMASCUS, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A peace plan for ending the months- long Syrian political crisis reached between the Syrian government and the Arab League (AL) received Thursday mixed responses from analysts and opposition figures in and out of Syria.

Muhammad Habash, a parliamentarian who heads the Third Way movement in Syria, said the Syrian government, by fully accepting the plan, took a responsible stance and overcame many reservations and formalities.

Habash commended the AL for taking a "right step in dealing with the Syrian situation," and urged the Syrian opposition to response positively.

"The opposition should undertake positive steps and overcome its wounds for the sake of saving Syria," Habash told Xinhua.

The peace plan, announced by Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani after an extraordinary meeting in Cairo Wednesday, calls for stopping violence and withdrawing the military vehicles from Syrian streets, in addition to releasing detainees and holding a dialogue between the Syrian authorities and the opposition.

Loai Hussain, a Syrian opposition figure at home, welcomed the AL deal and expressed hope "the Syrian government will halt its violent response to the protesters."

However, he remains skeptic about the government's "real intentions" behind its acceptance of the deal. "Our experience with the regime makes us skeptic about its real intentions," he told Xinhua.

Khalaf al-Muftah, a political analyst, said the AL deal has closed the door in the face of some abroad-based opposition figures who were aiming to internationalize the Syrian crisis to pave the way for foreign intervention.

"By approving the AL initiative, Syria proved that it was serious about reform," Muftah told Xinhua by phone.

On the other side, some opposition figures abroad slammed the Syrian government's acceptance of the AL plan as attempts "to buy time."

Opposition figure Najeeb Ghadban told pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV right after the official declaration of the deal that "the Syrian regime is not serious and trying to buy time only."

Some opposition groups abroad said they would accept nothing but the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The broad-based Syrian National Council on Wednesday called on the AL to suspend the Syrian government's membership and recognize the council as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

However, the council's repeated calls for foreign intervention to oust Assad were rejected by the opposition groups at home.