Syria Suspended From Arab League

By Ola Galal and Glen Carey - Nov 13, 2011 2:16 AM GMT+0700

Syria was suspended from the Arab League today for failing to halt violence against demonstrators, less than two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad’s government agreed to a plan to end the clashes.

Assad’s country, which became the second Arab nation this year to be suspended from the regional bloc after Libya, will be barred from the group’s meetings until it withdraws tanks from its cities, releases detained protesters and starts supervised talks with the opposition, the Arab League said in a statement handed to reporters in Cairo.

“This is following the Libyan path to some kind of action,” Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said by phone from Dubai. “It is much more complicated than Libya. It raises the ante quite a bit.”

The Arab League invited Syrian opposition leaders for talks in Cairo within the next three days aimed at developing a “unified vision” for the future of Syria, Qatar’s Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim Al Thani told reporters in Cairo.

The league will hold another meeting on Nov. 16 in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to discuss progress in Syria, he said.

Anti-regime demonstrations erupted in Syria during March, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and which last month led to the death of Libya’s long-time ruler, Muammar Qaddafi.

End to Violence

While Syria agreed to a Nov. 2 plan for ending the violence, it has continued to crack down on dissenters, according to opposition and human rights groups.

More than 3,500 protesters have been killed in the country since the clashes started, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Nov. 8. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, has urged the United Nations to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for torture and the killing of civilians, accusations the government rejects.

Syria isn’t concerned by the Arab League decision, which isn’t “worth the ink it was written with,” Youssef Ahmed, head of the Syrian delegation to the group, told reporters in Cairo. “The Arab League is applying a U.S. and Western agenda in the region,” he said.

The league, which called on all Arab countries to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus, plans to impose economic and political sanctions on Syria, Sheikh Hamad said, without giving further details.

‘Increases Syria’s Isolation’

“It’s a hard line, and increases Syria’s isolation substantially,” said Andrew Tabler, a Syria analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in an e-mailed response to questions. “Phrases about sanctions, political and economic, are major moves.”

President Barack Obama said the league “demonstrated leadership in its effort to end the crisis and hold the Syrian government accountable.” In an e-mailed statement, he also said, “These significant steps expose the increasing diplomatic isolation of a regime that has systematically violated human rights and repressed peaceful protests.”

Syria is committed to implementing the Arab League’s plan and has withdrawn its military from cities and ordered an amnesty for those who now hand in their weapons, Ahmed said earlier in a copy of a speech handed to reporters in Cairo. In the past 10 days, Syria has released 553 prisoners and will continue to release others gradually, he said.

Of the Arab League’s 22 members, 18 voted for Syria’s suspension, with Iraq abstaining and Yemen and Lebanon opposing the plan, Sheikh Hamad said.

“We wanted a full suspension of Syria’s membership but this is better than nothing,” said Ahmed Eissa, a 31-year-old student who was taking part in a protest to condemn the Syrian violence outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo today. “This is the first time that the Arab countries have taken a positive step, a step forward.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Ola Galal in Cairo on at ogalal@bloomberg.net; Glen Carey in Riyadh on at gcarey8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at areed12@bloomberg.net