Syria Rejects Arab League's Request For Assad To Step Down, Set Up New Unity Government

BEIRUT, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Syria rejected on Monday a request by Arab League foreign ministers that President Bashar al-Assad hand over power to a deputy and set up a new unity government, saying the plan was part of a "conspiracy against Syria".

"Syria rejects the decisions of the Arab League ministerial council ... and considers them a violation of its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in its internal affairs," state news agency SANA quoted an official source as saying.

The statement did not mention the ministers' decision to extend the mission of Arab League observers, who have faced criticism over their failure to stem the bloodshed in Syria since they first deployed last month.

Arab foreign ministers called on Assad on Sunday to hand over to a deputy and set up a new unity government, as a prelude to early parliamentary and presidential elections.

Assad has faced more than 10 months of protests against his rule and a growing armed rebellion. The United Nations says 5,000 people have been killed in the security crackdown. The authorities say they are fighting foreign-backed armed "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police.

"Syria condemns this decision which is part of the conspiracy against Syria," the official source said, saying that instead of cutting off the flow of money and weapons to "terrorist groups" in Syria, the ministers were issuing "inflammatory statements".

The source criticised the Arab League for ignoring reforms which Assad has promised, including a referendum on a new constitution, and which were lacking "in many of the Arab states leading the hostile campaign against Syria". (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Charles Queen]

08:46 PM on 01/23/2012

The deal is there's only one way to put an end to this situation and end the killing of the innocents and thats by erasing Assad,plain and simple

[greenToBlue]

04:58 PM on 01/23/2012

It's crime against humanity what is going on in Syria. The world should pay attention.

[wmechaneer]

05:56 PM on 01/23/2012

To then "do" what exactly? If Assad continues bing a murderous dictator, does America then go in and destroy Syria's government, just as was done to eliminate the murderous dictator Saddam Hussein? Is it OK to behave like that if it's a Democrat POTUS, bit not when it's a GOP one?

[Si1ver1ock]

12:55 PM on 01/23/2012

Why don't we request the Saudi Arabia have democracy and that the Saudi dictator step down? Or Bahrain or Qatar?

Qatar has been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the Al Thani family since the mid-19th century...

The Saudi Arabian government, which has been an absolute monarchy since its inception...

...officially the Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family.

[dkandycrown]

01:47 PM on 01/23/2012

The U.S. cannot do that on Saudi Arabia. We get 11% of the oil from there. I don't think we have the right to tell another country what type of government they should have. We can't even managed and run our own government.

[wmechaneer]

02:21 PM on 01/23/2012

You are factual in this.

[wmechaneer]

02:27 PM on 01/23/2012

How about adding Sweden, Holland and Great Broitain to that list? Perhaps Japan's Emperor and Monaco's Prince should join in the chorus of "domocracy or else" as well?

It's foolish to expect another nation to change its form of government unless one wishes to do so through military force.

The Arab League is present in Syria as "observers," and for anyone to expect them to do other than hypocritical acts is unreasonable indeed. The Arab League is simply attempting to create "legitimacy" for their own misbehaviors.

[Si1ver1ock]

04:53 PM on 01/23/2012

They are Pawns of Empire.

[jacmed]

11:53 AM on 01/23/2012

And my Syrian neighbor still insists that all the problems in Syria are media hype and that everyone there loves Assad! However, in spite of his comments, he has managed to get every one of his extended family out of there in the past couple of months!! LOL

[wmechaneer]

02:22 PM on 01/23/2012

The breadth of hypocrisy in the Middle East is gargantuan in nature.

[TheIpsoFactory]

11:52 AM on 01/23/2012

Assad and his Adolf moustache are going to meet with a predictable but ugly fate.
Sic semper tyrannis.

[wmechaneer]

02:28 PM on 01/23/2012

It's man's nature to demand a "ruler" rather than face personal responsibility for one's own outcome.

[soldier123]

11:50 AM on 01/23/2012

Assad is not going to relinquish his power. What will happen next is continues slaughter of the people by the Assad government. In the long run as long as the people have the will to fight Assad will have his head relinquished.

[whatsit2yadudes]

11:19 AM on 01/23/2012

"Syria Rejects Arab League's Request For Assad To Step Down, Set Up New Unity Government"

It's obvious...Syria is a "reject".

[athiesttoo]

10:52 AM on 01/23/2012

The Arab League puts an intelligence officer for the brutal Bashir regime of Sudan in charge of fact finding. Remember Darfur, the Janjaweed? He's trained to be deaf, dumb and blind to government torture, murder and imprisonment. "I know nothink"

[whatsit2yadudes]

10:49 AM on 01/23/2012

Syria: just another sorry excuse for a Third World country.

[wmechaneer]

02:30 PM on 01/23/2012

Perhaps you should consider reading awhile about Mao's "Third Way," before commenting so parochially upon the "Third World."

[se72748]

10:45 AM on 01/23/2012

Of course Assad is not going to step down.Syria belongs to Assad.Assad inherited Syria from his daddy.Syria belongs to him.If the Syrian serfs and peasants want to get rid of their king,let them storm the palace and take what they want.If the government wins,or the rebels win,the victor will still be our enemy .I would not lift a finger to help them without a thousand year ,iron clad,peace and cooperation treaty.Thats my price an its a fair one

[tkernhickory]

01:43 PM on 01/23/2012

Donald Trump is right....where we go in and help liberate these people we should get paid in $$ or in Oil .........when did the 3000 year concept of to the victor goes the spoils........Kuwait and the Saudis should have paid the total cost of the Persian gulf war. Iraq and Libyia should pay us in oil for the costs we incurred. And I know many will say Iraq was Bush's war but the Iraqi opposition group that was recognized by the West and most of the free world pressed us to also liberate Iraq.......

[wmechaneer]

02:33 PM on 01/23/2012

The "True Believers" won't accept your comments, and will attack you for making them. Truth is not generally based upon fact, and fact is too hard a concept for the faithful. Their imagination is more important.

Pscyhology 101 teaches that everyone wants to be understood, rather than understand.

[donny3666]

10:35 AM on 01/23/2012

Syria might be correct. When I see is going wrong in Egypt and Iraq I have to wonder. Our founders wrote the constitution. It would have worthless had they not attached the bill of rights to it.

[Phreaked]

11:08 AM on 01/23/2012

Is there a coherent thought in this word salad?

[wmechaneer]

02:41 PM on 01/23/2012

Let me help you out....

Without accepting a "higher authority" than one's own human desires, (in Greek, an "ethos") theres no chance for anything but tyranny in Syria. Therefore this results in either living in the Holy Anarchy of obedience to God's commandments, judgements and authorities, or man's imposition of suppoosedly utopian tyranny.

The poster offered that the US Constitution avoids either imposing God's will upon us, or that of a utopian dictatorship. (See http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html) They similarly state that unless the Syrian people also enjoy such an authority over their nation, they'll always suffer under a dictatorial form of governance.

Helpful?

[JJBUFF]

10:25 AM on 01/23/2012

Khadafi turned down an opportunity to step down. Assad may want to think about that.

[John Harlan]

10:14 AM on 01/23/2012

Make no mistake about it, Assad is fighting for his life. There will be no relinquishment of power without dire consequences for Assad. The penalty for what he has done is death. He has committed crimes against humanity and survival depends on him maintaining complete control. If you are in doubt, just remember what has happened with Saddam, Hosne Mubarak, and Qaddafi. When you are a despot, you have very limited choices.

[greenToBlue]

04:55 PM on 01/23/2012

How many more does he need to kill before the world acts?

[mrelmo]

09:54 AM on 01/23/2012

Mr. A$$head will go, one way or the other. It's a matter of time.

[deridaa]

09:51 AM on 01/23/2012

Yeah right-good job in bringing democracy to Egypt btw- you wont see the pyramids as a tourist for 100 yrs unless you are covered up like a mummy.

[liberal07]

10:21 AM on 01/23/2012

Are you saying we should have gotten involved in another countries internal affairs? How many of our young should we have sacrificed?
Iraq, Viet Nam, Korea and Afghanistan were all such wonderful successes.

[wmechaneer]

02:53 PM on 01/23/2012

It was that great American Progressive, Teddy Roosevelt who opined that America should "walk softly, but carry a big stick." What is the purpose of such a "stick"?

If we're involved in "nation building," (as we did at the end of WW2) then we should expect to wield the "stick" with nothing less than total ineptitude.

Otherwise, as Jefferson stated, we should not engage in foreign entanglements, and instead practice "scorched earth" tactics in warfare. Destroy the enemy without mercy, and leave them with nothing but a century of poverty, allowing them to rethink their stupid original position while they're otherewise occupied in personal survival while rebuilding themselves without anyone else's help.

"Discipline" is the fear of the outcome of punishment for one's voluntary behavior. When there's no punishment offered for bad behavior, there's no fear, and bad behavior naturally follows.