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THE ARAB LEAGUE’S own parliament has called on the League to withdraw its observers from their high-profile mission to Syria – arguing that their presence is distracting from the Syrian government’s violence against protesters.
The 88-member Arab Parliament, which features four members from each of the League’s 22 members, effectively said it had lost confidence in the mission – which has failed to stop the violent crackdowns on anti-government demonstrations.
The delegation had arrived last month after what was seen as a major breakthrough in the attempts to end the brutal conflicts – and had been expected to gauge whether Syria was abiding by a plan aimed at finding peace.
CBC quotes a Kuwaiti member of the parliament – whose recommendations are non-binding – as saying the observers’ presence was now a distraction from the “flagrant violations” of the peace plan being undertaken by the government of president Bashar Assad.
The mission of the Arab League team has missed its aim of stopping the killing of children and ensuring the withdrawal of troops from the Syrian streets, giving the Syrian regime a cover to commit inhumane acts under the noses of the Arab League observers.
The chairman of the parliament, Ali al-Salem al-Debkas, said the presence of the observers was now contributing further to the anger of the public, and risked turning the protests even more violent.
A statement from al-Debkas quoted in the Daily Telegraph said the observers were “giving the Syrian regime an Arab cover for continuing its inhumane actions under the eyes and ears of the Arab League.”
The head of the delegation, General Mustafa al-Dabi, has attracted much criticism for being a perceived supporter of the Assad administration.
He has also been criticised for apparently contradicting the reports of his own staff, rubbishing first-hand reports of snipers attacking protesters.
Eight demonstrators were killed yesterday when security forces opened fire in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.
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I feel so so so sad.Mark came to speak to my school a few years ago. He was a friend of my teacher.,He was great craic and really motivated us, Its awful to hear he is now paralysed, I hope alot of money is raised for him
Unlucky guy, fair play to him for being so positive.
Massive respect to Mark. I heard him on the radio a few weeks ago, a tragic yet inspiring story. We can all learn from his postivity and fortitude. Keep fighting, fella.
I was feeling under the weather today and this story put things into perspective. I will do the run if we can get further details….
Hi Simon – Mark will be delighted to hear it – I put the link to the website with all the details in the article above so readers could easily click through. It is http://www.run4mark.com. Good luck with it!
I watched the programme with Mark in it last year,what a cruel twist of fate Mark has had to endure,losing his sight,and then becoming paraylaysed,and not once have I ever heard him complain.he’s a testament to the words bravery,I really hope everyone can get involved and help Mark in anyway they can.
A total gentleman. Everyone should do all they can for him. I struggled in a fitness test recently and thought of marks journey to the pole…… I found the strength to finish the course.
Where does he get his strength from. It’s amazing
What an inspiration, did he ever get married!
i saw a story today of an ipad2 sold for $5million.
what a waste when causes like marks could benefit from the donations etc…
best of luck with the run, id take part only i suffer with chronic back pain
I’ve shared the link http://www.run4mark.com on other websites that I use. Who knows, someone out there might cough up a load of money to help this young man deal with this new challenge. Mark sounds amazing.
Jaysus, blind n paralysed………
What a fukin trooper.
We all give out for not havin enuf money or cool accessories- try this mans shoes on for the day ( no pun intended)
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