Bashar Assad Refuses to Cooperate with Arab League

The Arab League foreign ministers who met in Baghdad on March 28-29 failed to sway the Syrian authorities. A day after the opposition was defeated in Homs, Bashar Assad’s foreign minister said that Syria would not talk with the League of Arab States, which had suspended Syria’s membership.

The Syrian president does not appear frightened by the possibility of isolation from the Arab world. He still has the backing of Russia and China, while the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is acting as an intermediary in his dialogue with Arab nations and the West.

Russia and China may review their stance

According to the UN, the armed confrontation between the Syrian government and the opposition, which started a year ago, has claimed over 9,000 lives. Yet Bashar Assad feels confident and does not plan to exit the political stage. The fighting in Homs, Idlib, Rastan, Daraa and other cities goes on, and the government forces clearly have control over the country.

Nothing will change as long as Assad has the support of some of the world’s leading powers. Meanwhile, Russia has moved closer to the West’s stance, expressing support for Annan’s peace plan, which stipulates a daily two-hour ceasefire for delivering humanitarian aid and evacuating the injured.

President Dmitry Medvedev highly praised the mission of Kofi Annan, who represented both the UN and the Arab League.

“I really believe that this is very likely the last chance to prevent the escalation of the civil war, which could have fatal consequences for Syria,” he said.

Annan’s plan unfeasible

Kofi Annan’s plan consciously omits the main demand of the Syrian opposition and the West – that Bashar Assad must step down. This is why the Damascus authorities have accepted it so readily. But Assad is unlikely to accept the provisions on stopping all violence, releasing all political prisoners, and ensuring freedom of association, peaceful demonstrations and journalists’ access to the country.

Assuming that the Syrian army withdraws from rebel cities and stops fighting the opposition, the “peaceful” opposition will disarm the government security forces, take over government buildings and police stations and convince the armed forces to join them. This is why Russian diplomats insist that not only Assad but the opposition must honor all provisions of Annan’s peace plan.

“In this regard, it is extremely important that the Syrian opposition groups follow the example of the Damascus authorities and clearly announce their support for the UN-approved peace plan put forward by the UN and Arab League envoy,” reads the statement by Alexander Lukashevich, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry……………MORE HERE