Arab League suspends Syria monitor mission (VIDEO)
The Arab League announced Saturday it will suspend its Syria mission and criticized President Bashar Assad for continued violence.
Demonstrators hold the former Syrian flag during a protest against the Syrian regime and its deadly crackdown on dissent in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on January 27, 2012. Western and Arab nations could make public their draft resolution condemning Syria’s deadly crackdown on protesters when the UN Security Council convenes to discuss the escalating crisis.
The Arab League suspended its Syria observer mission Saturday and criticized President Bashar al Assad for escalating violence that killed more than 80 people in recent days.
"It has been decided to immediately stop the work of the Arab League's mission to Syria pending presentation of the issue to the league's council," said Nabil Elaraby, the League’s secretary-general. Elaraby said some 100 monitors would remain in the country but would be inactive.
UPDATE: Meanwhile, Syrian activists said forces loyal to Assad killed at least 12 people on Saturday and injured 30 others in a bombardment of a Damascus suburbs, Reuters reported.
The Syria observer mission was intended to ensure the end of Assad’s violent crackdown against the country’s 10-month-old protests but the plan quickly deteriorated since League observers entered the country in December. More than 5,400 civilians have died since the revolt began, according to the UN.
Elaraby conceded to BBC mid-January that the mission did not go to plan, describing Syria’s continued violence as “very worrisome.”
The heavily criticized mission was dealt a recent blow when several Arab states pulled out of the mission on Tuesday.
The suspended mission and recent spike in violence has added urgency for Western and Arab countries to broker a new peace deal.
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The Arab League and West have been seeking UN support to draft a resolution but faces obstacles with Syria, China and Russia, major opponents of the Arab peace plan, the Associated Press reported. The UN Security Council met Friday in a closed-door meeting to draft a resolution to resolve the crisis but met opposition from Russia.
Elaraby and the prime minister of Qatar are scheduled to leave for New York on Sunday to seek UN support of the plan, which proposes a two-month transitional government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the unity goverment, Al Jazeera reported.
More from GlobalPost: UN Security Council considers next steps for Syria