The Arab League to Syria's President: It's Time for You to Go

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Suhaib Salem / Reuters

Arab Foreign Ministers conduct their meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Jan. 22, 2012

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Qatar reiterated its call for dispatching Arab peacekeeping troops to Syria. Sheik Hamad said the league had not seriously discussed that proposal, likening such a deployment to that of the so-called Arab Deterrent Force (composed almost entirely of Syrian forces) dispatched during Lebanon's civil war. That mission ended disastrously when the Syrian military quickly became a party to the Lebanese conflict rather than a peacekeeper. Still, the mere suggestion of Arab boots on the ground was a clear indication of how forceful the Arab League is prepared to be. Sheik Hamad said Assad should accept the plan. "I think this is an honorable exit because it is a Syrian-Arab solution."

Arab League secretary general Nabil el-Araby told the joint news conference he would appoint a special representative to oversee the implementation of the plan and negotiate between the Syrian government and the opposition. Sheik Hamad likened the league's road map for Syria to the one outlined for Yemen. That comparison may cause some Syrians to cringe. It took Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh months to sign off on that deal. (Ironically, and perhaps not coincidentally, Saleh left Yemen on Sunday after months of clinging to power upon surviving an assassination attempt that left his hands and parts of his scalp severely burned.)

The plan is bold, but there is one clear catch: Assad must agree to it, and as el-Araby said, the violence must cease "before the political operation begins." Based on Assad's previous dealings with an Arab League he deeply despises, he may effectively buy time by studying the initiative and providing a veneer of cooperation while continuing what he has termed his "security solution" to the country's problems. On the other hand, Assad called for a national unity government in his most recent speech. Still, having the condition imposed on him by the league is another matter.

The league's plan makes it clear that the Syrian leader has been sidelined by his peers and has few friends in the region other than Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hizballah and the Lebanese government it dominates. Russia and China have shielded Assad from serious censure at the U.N., but the emboldened Arab consensus against Damascus, as well as its plan to go to the Security Council formally, may put added pressure on Russia and China to let a resolution pass.

The Syrian National Council (SNC), the main umbrella opposition group, welcomed the league's plan. In a late-night press conference following that of the Arab League, SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun said the Arab League's decision makes it clear that "most Arab countries now consider that the regime of Bashar al-Assad is over." El-Araby said the league's road map was not discussed with the SNC. (In what was a long day of dramatic developments, the SNC also called on the league to transfer the Syria file to the Security Council for referral to the International Criminal Court.)

The Arab League's newfound audacity, however, wasn't enough for one Syrian journalist present at the news conference. "You haven't listened to the Syrian people. The people want to execute Assad," he demanded of the Qatari Foreign Minister.

"Who has stopped them?" Sheik Hamad retorted. "Have we stopped them?"

"You know Assad will reject this," the reporter continued.

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Sheik Hamad asked in reply.

And that is where the drama stands.

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