Why is Arab League against Syria?
Photo: AFP
Syria is bordered on two sides by countries that have been torn apart by civil wars in recent decades, Lebanon and Iraq. Syria's ruler Assad has repeatedly invoked the specter of unrestrained sectarian conflict as a likely outcome of any attempt to topple him. Syria's relations with the Sunni Muslim majority states are uneasy because the minority, Nusayria /Alawite (Shiite) sect to which the family of President Bashar al-Assad belongs, rules the country and is close to Iran. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 80s, Syria supported Iran and Sunni Arabs cannot forget the Syrian support. Iran has become a regional power and its allies are Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. On the other hand, Sunni States want to de-link Syria from Iran to reduce Iran's influence in the region. Given the above background, the Arab League's position against Syria's President Assad is not surprising. Qatar took the lead to introduce an Arab League resolution in the UN Security Council on February 4 calling for "political transition to a democratic, plural political system" but it was vetoed by Russia and China as being "unbalanced." Moscow said the draft - which backed an Arab League peace plan calling for President Assad to hand over power - would have forced regime change on Syria. The western powers were annoyed with both Russia and China because they saw that the veto would unleash more violence in Syria. On February 6, the US closed its embassy in Syria and several European countries, like, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium have recalled their ambassadors. Arab League members were not happy with the veto and the Gulf Arab states, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait say they are expelling Syrian ambassadors in their countries and recalling their envoys from Syria. The Arab League went to the General Assembly of the UN where there is no veto by big powers. On February 16, the United Nations General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution endorsing the Arab League plan for the Syrian President to step down. The vote was 137 in favor and 12 against, with 17 abstentions. China and Russia were among the no votes on the resolution. Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari lashed out at the vote, calling the League of Arab States "broken, both politically and morally." He added that, "If things continue in this manner ... the United Nations will collapse -- morally first and entirely second." Sectarianism in Arab WorldOne of the disastrous consequences of the US-led invasion of Iraqi has been the continued sectarian warfare between Sunnis and Shiite. Sectarianism appears to be a totally new game in the Arab world, and is different from the conflict between the radical Arab nationalists and the conservative pan-Islamists of the late 50s and 60s. Sectarian warfare in Iraq has its analogues in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Pakistan. A new tension is unfolding in the region between Shiite states, such as Iraq and Lebanon, supported by Shiite Iran and Sunni states, such as, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Gulf States. Former President Mubarak of Egypt caustically remarked that the Arab Shiite appeared more loyal to Iran than to their respective countries. When Shiite Hezbollah (Party of Allah) launched missile attacks against Israel, three Sunni states denounced Hezbollah's actions for its "adventurism" and dragging the region into a dangerous war. Russian Foreign Minister's visit
Russian Foreign Minister Lavarov visited Suria on February 7 and met President Assad. The Russian foreign minister's arrival was greeted by hundreds and thousands of Assad's supporters because Russian veto had saved the Assad regime. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a solution to the crisis based on Arab League initiatives on November 2, 2011 to end the violence. After meeting Lavrov, Syrian media quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying he was willing to co-operate with "any efforts towards stability." On February15, President Assad announced that a nationwide referendum would be held in March on a new constitution that would be the centerpiece of what he said would be a plan to reform the country. The new constitution would enshrine freedom of speech and worship, along with other basic liberties and end the current monopoly on power held by Assad's Baath Party, which has ruled for four decades. The opposition dismissed the referendum announcement as an effort to buy time, and it was not clear how the government could carry out a vote in a country disrupted by violence. The uprising in Syria -- influenced by the Arab Spring movement that forced regime change in, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen -- was sparked about a year ago in the southern city of Daraa with demonstrators angered by the arrests of young people who scrawled anti-government graffiti. Their grievances and calls for reforms were met with a violent security crackdown, and the unrest there served to catalyze anti-government protests across the nation. President Bashar al-Assad shows no sign of backing away from his determination to confront the protests in his country. While there is a lot of talk of reform the reality is that the crackdown against demonstrators has actually intensified. Human rights groups and activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the uprising began last March. The UN stopped estimating the death toll in Syria after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm. President Assad's government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed. Arab people have succeeded in removing the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Unless Syrian president takes swift action to introduce drastic reforms towards multi-party democracy and human rights, the wave of armed protests in Syria could eventually remove Assad from power.
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