1 hour 32 minutes ago
By Sezayi Erken | AFP
Source:Yahoo News Maktoob
The Arab League expects the Damascus regime to sign up "soon" to an observer mission intended to monitor the protection of civilians, the bloc's number two Ahmed Ben Helli said on Saturday.
"There are positive signs... I expect the signing will happen soon," Ahmed Ben Helli told AFP ahead of a meeting of an Arab League ministerial commission in Qatar.
"It will not be today," he said, before the meeting, which had originally been scheduled to take place in Cairo alongside a now indefinitely postponed emergency foreign ministers' meeting.
Announcing the postponement late on Thursday, Ben Helli said negotiations would continue with the Syrian government to try to convince it to implement an Arab plan to end bloodshed which has raged for nine months since it unleashed a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
The Arab League approved a raft of sanctions against the Damascus authorities on November 27 to punish their failure to heed an ultimatum to admit the observers but Syria said on Sunday that it would allow the mission in on certain conditions.
In a letter to the bloc's secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem set a number of terms, notably the withdrawal of the sanctions package.
Ben Helli said on Thursday that the League was still holding talks with Syria on its offer.
On Friday, hundreds of thousands turned out across Syria for rallies called under the slogan: "The Arab League is killing us -- enough deadlines," in protest at the bloc's failure to take a tougher stance.
Showing posts with label Arab League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arab League. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Arab League to ask UN for no-fly zone in Gaza
10 Apr 2011
Arab League Chief Amr Moussa said the organisation will ask the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza, which Israel has pounded with air strikes in response to rocket fire.
Moussa told an emergency meeting of Arab League ambassadors that “the Arab bloc in the United Nations has been directed to ask for the convention of the Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and impose a no-fly zone.”
Israeli and Palestinian officials were on Sunday floating a ceasefire to end fighting in the coastal strip where Israeli air strikes have killed at least 18 people since Thursday.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of an even stronger response if more rockets are fired from the Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas.
The flare-up came after an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza hit an Israeli school bus on Thursday, wounding two people, one of them critically.
Even if Arab representatives at the United Nations succeed in convening a Security Council meeting, the US, a close ally of Israel, is likely to veto it.
The Arab League request for a no-fly zone over Gaza may have been inspired by a UN-sanctioned aerial blockade for Libya to halt forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi harming civilians.
Arab League backing for that no-fly zone was seen as crucially important by the USs when it pressed for a UN resolution that authorised it and other countries to keep Libyan planes grounded.
Arab League Chief Amr Moussa said the organisation will ask the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza, which Israel has pounded with air strikes in response to rocket fire.
Moussa told an emergency meeting of Arab League ambassadors that “the Arab bloc in the United Nations has been directed to ask for the convention of the Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and impose a no-fly zone.”
Israeli and Palestinian officials were on Sunday floating a ceasefire to end fighting in the coastal strip where Israeli air strikes have killed at least 18 people since Thursday.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of an even stronger response if more rockets are fired from the Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas.
The flare-up came after an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza hit an Israeli school bus on Thursday, wounding two people, one of them critically.
Even if Arab representatives at the United Nations succeed in convening a Security Council meeting, the US, a close ally of Israel, is likely to veto it.
The Arab League request for a no-fly zone over Gaza may have been inspired by a UN-sanctioned aerial blockade for Libya to halt forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi harming civilians.
Arab League backing for that no-fly zone was seen as crucially important by the USs when it pressed for a UN resolution that authorised it and other countries to keep Libyan planes grounded.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Arab League may reject Israeli freeze
The Arab League will possibly refuse a new Israeli three-month partial settlement freeze that excludes East al-Quds (Jerusalem), an official from the organization says.
"If there is a settlement freeze that excludes Jerusalem, I cannot imagine that would be acceptable to the Palestinian side or the Arab side," Hesham Youssef, an official with the office of the secretary general of the Arab League, said on Monday.
According to reports, the US has offered a package of incentives to Israel to extend the partial settlement freeze for another three months after the issue stalled the direct talks between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Washington plans to provide Tel Aviv with 20 advanced fighters and has agreed to veto any anti-Israeli resolution at the United Nations Security Council.
Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the negotiations in early September after a 20-month break.
Abbas on Sunday called for an urgent meeting with the Arab League to discuss the new US proposal to Israel before announcing an official decision over the US-sponsored talks.
The PA chief has repeatedly said that any further talks with the Israeli side would depend on ending the settlement construction.
"If there is a settlement freeze that excludes Jerusalem, I cannot imagine that would be acceptable to the Palestinian side or the Arab side," Hesham Youssef, an official with the office of the secretary general of the Arab League, said on Monday.
According to reports, the US has offered a package of incentives to Israel to extend the partial settlement freeze for another three months after the issue stalled the direct talks between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Washington plans to provide Tel Aviv with 20 advanced fighters and has agreed to veto any anti-Israeli resolution at the United Nations Security Council.
Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the negotiations in early September after a 20-month break.
Abbas on Sunday called for an urgent meeting with the Arab League to discuss the new US proposal to Israel before announcing an official decision over the US-sponsored talks.
The PA chief has repeatedly said that any further talks with the Israeli side would depend on ending the settlement construction.
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