Arab League Observer Chief Satisfied with Syria Mission
The head of the controversial Arab League observer mission to Syria expressed satisfaction with the monitors' effort on Thursday, even as a deadly regime crackdown on dissent continues.
"I swear by God, I am fully satisfied with myself and with all those on the mission in Syria," Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi told reporters on a brief return to his homeland.
"There is a campaign against the mission and against the head of the mission and there are some allegations against it, but all of this is untrue," Dabi said, adding critics did not understand the observers' role.
The 165 monitors were deployed in December after Syria agreed to an Arab League plan for a halt to the violence, for prisoners to be freed, tanks withdrawn from towns and on the free movement of observers and foreign media.
None of the clauses in the protocol was respected.
The Arab League said on Saturday it was suspending its mission because of an upsurge in violence.
Earlier last week the six Gulf Arab states announced they would withdraw their observers because "the bloodshed and killings there continue (and after) the Syrian regime did not comply with implementing the Arab League decisions."
Syrian President Bashar Assad's battle to crush an unprecedented revolt has left more than 6,000 people dead since mid-March, according to estimates of human rights groups.
Dabi called it "war" and said he had seen "some evidence of torture".
He declined comment on talks at the United Nations, which moved closer to agreement on action to halt the regime's crackdown.
Arab ministers will meet February 11 to review the suspended observer mission to Syria.
Source: Agence France Presse
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