Arab Monitors' Mission in Syria  Cairo – Akram Ali The Arab League Ministerial Committee on Syrian Affairs, in a meeting held in Cairo Sunday afternoon, called on Damascus authorities to end the violence exercised by security against peaceful demonstrators , to withdraw all arms from Syrian streets, and to allow for Arab and international media to be present in Syrian streets to observe what happens. Qatar called for sending Arab Peace Keeping Forces to Syria “to avoid foreign intervention”, and Arab League Secretary General Nabil el-Arabi that mistakes occurred during the Arab mission, amid reports of killing 20 civilians with Syrian security forces.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Syrian affairs, said in a joint press conference with Secretary General Nabil el-Arabi that “the issue of sending Arab peace keeping forces to Syria must be raised to avoid foreign intervention,” adding that such intervention would bring unsatisfactory consequences if the Syrian authorities do not fully commit to the signed protocol.
Bin Jassim expressed his belief that “the Syrian people decided on their future, all we want at the Arab League is to reduce losses as much as possible,” stressing on the need to support the Arab mission with more monitors and equipment, and the need for the Syrian government to commit to the terms of the initiative.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil el-Arabi expressed his deep concern about the situation in Syria, as he stated that Syrians are still getting killed, and admitted some mistakes regarding the work of the mission. He stressed, however, that AL will work on avoiding the same mistakes in the coming period, confirming that the responsibility of the observers is to “monitor the situation only. They still have some problems with regard to their deployment in all Syrian territories.”
El-Arabi called on all Syrian opposition to “intensify their efforts to present their political vision for the upcoming phase in Syria,” urging all political forces of opposition to hold a preparatory meeting with his presence to solve the Syrian crisis and to put forward future visions aiming to agree on forming a national unity government to run the transitional phase.
The committee urged AL Secretary General to continue the coordination with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in order to further coordinate and enforce the technical capacity of the AL monitors mission.
It also called on the Syrian authorities to promptly release of detainees, to clear all cities and residential areas of arms, and to allow relevant AL mission and Arab and international media to move freely across Syria to be able to observe the reality of the situation.
The committee assigned head of the Arab mission, Sudanese Ahmed al-Dabi, to submit a comprehensive report on January 19, on the extent to which the Syrian government is committed to the protocol and plan to end the crisis.
As soon as the press conference came to an end, former Syrian MP and member of Syrian opposition Mohamed Mamoun al-Homsi stormed into the conference room shouting “Down with the Arab Leage.”
Homsi harshly slammed Secretary General Nabil el-Arabi and sharply attacked the Ministerial Committee and accused it of working for Iran and the Syrian regime.
Homsi addressed media reporters and committee members saying that Syrian people will eventually triumph despite the “disgraceful stances of Arabs,” calling on Muslims and Arabs worldwide to “support the Syrian free army with money and arms to eliminate the regime of Bashar Assad.”
Former Syrian MP accused Qatari Foreign Minister of being an “agent” for Assad and Iran. In addition, he slammed Qatari channel Al-Jazeera which he accused of “deception and devotion to so-called Arab League efforts and the state of Qatar.”
Homsi shouted at the attendees claiming that more than 50 thousand martyrs have been slaughtered by “Alawites and Shiites”, according to him.
In a relevant context, human rights activists stated that 20 civilians were killed by security bullets in Homs, Idlib, and Deir Azour, Sunday, while Syrian forces stormed Zebdani area and Madaya, amid news of more defectors from the army who are said to have killed 11 soldiers in Daraa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that clashes with defectors took place in Daraa, pointing out that twenty others of the Syrian army were injured.
Local coordination committees in Syria said that “there is a child among the [civilian] victims,”, noting that at least 8 were killed in Homs.
Local committees stated that security forces stormed Deir Azzour with eight tanks and three vehicles, noting that they stormed houses, confiscated 4 civilian cars, and arrested more than 7 people.
The committees pointed out that the area suffers a tragic humanitarian condition, worsened by the severe shortage of food and medical supplies due to siege imposed by security forces