Al-Dabi claims violence reduced due to League mission

Al-Dabi claims violence reduced due to League mission Cairo – Akram Ali As clashes continue to sweet Syria, there are conflicting reports on Monday's casualties. Syrian activist network the Local Coordination Committee claimed that 18 people were killed on Monday, including a child and a military defector. It reported deaths in Deraa, Homs , Idlib, Bokamal and the suburbs of Damascus.
French news agency AFP said 15 people were killed including five defectors, however.
Meanwhile, the controversial head of the Arab League's mission to Syria, Sudanese general Mohammad Ahmad Al-Dabi held a press conference in Cairo on Monday amid reports of the Syrian government's rejection of the Arab League's peace proposals.
"The level of violence reduced after our arrival," Al-Jazeera news network reported him as saying.
Al-Dabi said that the mission's task was to monitor progress on the League's plan — which Damascus agreed to in December — to end the country's crisis.
"The delegation's mission is observation, not to stop killing or to stop destruction," Al-Dabi said. "If the violence stops, we'll say that it has. And if this doesn't happen, we'll say so..."
Al-Dabi said the observers' presence had cut down on the bloodshed in Syria.
"When the delegation arrived, there was clear and obvious violence," he said. "But after the delegation arrived, the violence started to go lessen gradually."
The observers have confirmed 136 killings, committed by both sides, since their arrival in Syria, Al-Dabi said. The UN said 400 have been killed.
He said that in some areas, observers had found evidence of machine guns fired over people's heads. In other places, they saw evidence of direct clashes. In yet other regions, armed opposition groups attacked security forces who were "forced to respond to this fire," he said.
Al-Dabi said there were conflicting reports about the number of political detainees in Syria. The Syrian authorities claimed 7,000 prisoners were released, he said.
Syrian activists have expressed outrage at Al-Dabi's comments, claiming his speech seeks to undermine their work at documenting abuses. Al-Dabi was also criticised by activists last month after he said observers saw "nothing frightening" in Homs.
Lebanese news site Naharnet later reported that Al-Dabi blamed armed elements in the opposition for some of some of the violence.
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) also called for an international criminal court investigation into the Syrian government's crackdown against protesters
It urged the Arab League to refer Syria to the UN who in turn should call in call in the ICC, it said.
A new SNC statement also demanded the establishment of a no fly zone over Syria and humanitarian safety zones.
The Arab League foreign ministers Sunday called on embattled Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy and fully cooperate with a Syrian National Unity Government to be formed within two months. The move aimed to enable the unity government to perform its duties during a transitional phase. Algeria expressed reservations and Lebanon distanced itself from the initiative, while SNC head Burhan Ghalioun refused to negotiate with the Assad regime.
Arab foreign ministers stated that the aim of forming a national unity government in Syria is to establish a political pluralist democracy, where all civilians would be seen equal regardless of their affiliations and religious sects.
They also stressed the need to form a stable government with participation of the government and the opposition within two months led by a figure to be agreed upon, with a mission to implement the Arab League plan and preparing for free pluralist parliamentary and presidential elections, with accordance to a law which stipulates Arab and international supervision.
The unity government promised an independent commission to investigate the violations suffered by Syrian civilians and redress for victims. They are also to prepare for constituent assembly elections, under Arab and international supervision, within three months of formation, to draft a new Syrian constitution on which a popular referendum will be held. Assembly tasks are to be carried out in six months at the most, according to the Arab League plan, so that presidential elections are held afterward.
Chairman of the AL Ministerial Committee, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani, said in a press conference following the foreign ministers' meeting on Sunday that the proposal envisages the creation of a unity government as a prelude to early parliamentary and presidential elections. He compared the proposal to the Gulf plan on Yemen, which saw President Ali Abdullah Saleh agree to hand over power.
Following the Ministerial Committee press conference, the SNC held a press conference of its own in Cairo, announcing its refusal to negotiate with the Assad regime.
“This confirms that all Arab countries today consider the tyrannical regime of Bashar Al-Assad to be finished and that it must be replaced,” said leader of the National Council Burhan Ghalioun.
The SNC, which urged the League to refer the Syrian crisis to the UN Security Council, welcomed the initiative,and stressed the need to go to the Security Council to set mechanisms to protect civilians.
Following the report prepared by  Al-Dabi, the Ministerial Committee also decided to resume the Syria mission and extendit for a month, in addition to cooperating with the UN Secretary General to provide them with technical and financial support.
In a shocking turn, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal announced, at the opening of the meeting, that Saudi Arabia will pull out its observers from the mission.
He told the meeting that Riyadh was pulling out because the Syrian government had not followed the Arab peace plan it agreed to before the monitors were sent.
"We are calling on the international community to bear its responsibility, and that includes our brothers in Islamic states and our friends in Russia, China, Europe and the United States," he said.
Meanwhile, Syrian official news agency Sana cited an official source announcing Syria’s rejection of the proposals of the Arab League Ministerial Council to transfer power, considering them "a violation of Syria’s national sovereignty and a blatant intervention in internal affairs."
The source stated that Syria condemned the proposals, which came in the framework of the conspiracy against Syria, according to Sana.
The source also criticised the Ministerial Council saying that their responsibility lay in ending the funding and arms support of “terrorist groups” which kill Syrian civilians and attack institutions, in addition to ending “misleading media campaigns” that are responsible for the bloodshed of innocent Syrians by inciting more violence.
Sana reported the source further stating that the Arab League decisions, which contradict with the interests of the Syrian people, would not deter Syria from proceeding with its reforms and achieving security and stability for its people, "who have proved, in the current crisis, their commitment to national unity and support to Al-Assad’s leadership."
The UN has said that more than 5,000 have died since protests against President Bashar Al-Assad erupted last March. The government in Damascus said that some 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".