Arab League plan ‘outrageous meddling’ in Syria

Press TV – January 24, 2012

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem says a new Arab League proposal that calls on President Bashar al-Assad to step down is “outrageous interference” in Syria’s internal affairs.

Muallem said in a press conference in the capital Damascus on Tuesday that Syria “will not accept the plan that infringes upon Syria’s sovereignty.”

On Sunday, the Arab League issued a statement after a meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, calling on President Assad to “transfer power to the vice president to form a government of national unity within two months.”

Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, the head of the observer mission in Syria, said in a press conference in Cairo on Monday the situation has improved in Syria since the monitoring mission began on December 26, 2011.

The Syrian foreign minister said the Arab League has made “political decisions instead of discussing its observer mission’s report on Syria.”

Muallem added that the report proves that “armed gangs are still active in Syria and that the Syrian government is decisively fighting against them.”

Muallem’s remarks come as the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council member states jointly announced on Tuesday that the countries have decided to “follow Saudi Arabia’s decision to pull out its observers from the Arab League mission in Syria.”

On Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Riyadh is withdrawing from the observer mission because “the Syrian government has not respected any of the clauses” of the Arab League resolution to end the unrest in Syria.

The withdrawal decision was made despite the final statement of the Sunday Arab League meeting in Cairo that said the organization “agreed to extend the mission and boost the number of observers” in Syria.

The Syrian government says foreign-sponsored “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” are responsible for the unrest in the country that broke out in mid-March 2011.