Arab League observers ‘making mistakes’ in Syria

BEIRUT: Qatar’s prime minister says the Arab League observer mission in Syria has made “some mistakes” and he is turning to the UN for help.

The Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassiem Al Thani, discussed the monthlong mission with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in New York on Wednesday amid criticism the observers are giving the Syrian regime cover for its ongoing crackdown on a nearly 10-month-old uprising.

“We are coming here for technical help and to see the experience the UN has, because this is the first time the Arab League is involved in sending monitors, and there are some mistakes,” he said, according to Kuwait’s state news agency.

Asked what kind of errors, he said: “I can see there are mistakes, but we went there not to stop the killing, but to monitor.”

Qatar has been at the forefront of criticism of Syria and has pushed for Arab League sanctions against Damascus.

About 100 Arab League observers are in Syria to assess whether President Bashar Assad’s regime is abiding by an Arab peace plan that requires the government to remove security forces and heavy weapons from cities, start talks with opposition leaders and free political prisoners.

The league claims it has won some concessions from Syria, including the pull-out of heavy military weaponry from cities and the release of thousands of prisoners.

Assad agreed to the Arab peace plan on December 19, but the Arab League has acknowl- edged that its plan has failed to stop violence. Activists have reported nearly 400 deaths since the monitors began work last week.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition group that tracks deaths in Syria, said up to 20 people had been killed in violence yesterday.

Syria’s opposition is also accusing the regime of misleading the monitors by taking them to areas loyal to the government, changing street signs, painting army vehicles blue to look like those of police and sending supporters into rebellious neighbourhoods to give false testimony.

Avaaz, an online global activist group, issued a report saying 617 people had been confirmed killed under torture by Assad’s forces as they cracked down on the revolt.

It said they were among 6 874 people killed since the uprising began, giving a significantly higher toll than the estimate of 5 000 given several weeks ago by the UN.

Avaaz said 37 000 people were in detention. – Sapa-ap