Syria opposition challenges Arab mission to prove itself

 

Burhan Ghalioun argued that the Arab League was giving the regime political cover

The leader of the main Syrian opposition group has said the Arab League observer mission should either prove itself or leave Syria.

Dr Burhan Ghalioun told the BBC that western countries should establish a safe area within Syria and enforce a no-fly zone over parts of the country.
At least 12 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday, activists reported.
The UN says more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in a crackdown on anti-government protests since March.
Casualty figures and other details are hard to verify as most foreign media are barred from reporting freely in Syria.
About 100 Arab League observers have been in Syria since last week to monitor compliance to a peace plan brokered by the Arab League.
'Telling lies' The leader of the Syrian National Council said he was worried the Arab League mission was providing political cover for the regime to suppress street protests.

Syria deaths

• More than 5,000 civilians have been killed, says the UN
• UN denied access to Syria
• Information gathered from NGOs, sources in Syria and Syrian nationals who have fled
• The death toll is compiled as a list of names which the UN cross-references
• Vast majority of casualties were unarmed, but the figure may include armed defectors
• Tally does not include serving members of the security forces

Source: UN's OHCHR

• Guide to the Syrian opposition
• Guide: Syria's diverse minorities

"We only agreed to the Arab League monitoring mission because it was going to expose the regime. We were never relying on it to stop the killing," Dr Ghalioun told the BBC.

"If they could convey just a tiny shred of what's happening, that's more than enough to condemn the regime, to prove they have been telling lies since the beginning."
He added that he hoped the United Nations might take over or subsume the League's mission.
Dr Ghalioun also called on western powers to establish a safe area within Syria and a no-fly zone over some of the country's territory. This would not, he said, require bombing on the scale of Libya - he wanted intervention to support the revolution, not replace it.
The BBC's Paul Wood, who interviewed Dr Ghalioun says Syria is not Libya; it is vastly more complicated, with more combustible neighbours. Much as the neighbours would like to see President Bashar al-Assad gone, western governments have very little appetite for a military intervention.