Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Syria to respond to Arab-proposed roadmap; more protesters are killed



Syria will respond Tuesday to an Arab League proposal to end violence between regime forces and protesters, an Arab diplomat said, a day before Arab foreign ministers were due to hold talks on the issue.

The Arab League official said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem had asked on Monday for changes to the proposal, which calls on President Bashar al-Assad to end violence against protesters and begin talks with his opposition.

“There has been agreement on some minor amendments, but the Arab delegation demanded a final response on Tuesday to the Arab proposal,” the diplomat told AFP.
He said Syria would inform the Qataris, who headed an Arab delegation that met Muallem in Doha on Sunday, of its response.

The Arab League on Monday revealed its roadmap to end violence in Syria, as NATO ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone over the country.

The roadmap calls for tanks to be withdrawn from Syrian streets and for talks between the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad and its opponents, League chief Nabil al-Arabi told AFP in the Qatari capital.

“The Arab proposal to Syria calls for withdrawing tanks and all military vehicles to bring an immediate end to the violence and give assurances to the Syrian street,” said Arabi.

The peace plan also calls for dialogue to take place in Cairo between Syrian regime officials and opposition figures, he added, before leaving Doha without indicating if a response had been received from Assad.

The Syrian delegation also left Doha later without making any statements.

As many as 13 people have been killed on Monday as security forces fired at protesters across the country, Al Arabiya reported citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “Around nine deaths were reported in the protest hub city of Homs,” activists said.

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