DAMASCUS, Jan 28, (Agencies): The Arab League suspended its controversial observer mission in Syria on Saturday as the bloodshed in a crackdown on anti-regime protests spiked with the death toll nearing 200 in four days.
The announcement came as umbrella opposition group the Syrian National Council said its leader would travel to New York to press the UN Security Council for protection from President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
SNC chief Burhan Ghaliun’s trip comes amid a new bid by Arab and European states for UN action over the more than 10-month-old deadly crackdown on dissent that has hit immediate opposition from staunch Syria ally Russia.
It also comes as Gulf states and Turkey called in Istanbul for global efforts to focus on bringing the bloodshed to an “immediate end’ and paving the way for the initiation of a political transition.
Arab League chief Nabil Al Arabi said “the decision to suspend the observer mission was taken after a series of consultations with Arab foreign ministers because of the upsurge of violence whose victims are innocent civilians.’
He said it also came “after the Syrian government chose the option of escalation, which increased the number of victims.”
The 165 League observers were deployed on December 26 after Syria agreed to a League plan foreseeing a halt to the violence, prisoners freed, tanks withdrawn from built-up areas and free movement of observers and foreign media.
The head of the monitoring mission, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa Al Dabi, said unrest has soared “in a significant way,’ especially in the flashpoint central cities of Homs and Hama and in the northern Idlib region.
According to a tally by AFP taken from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and official Syrian media, 193 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Tuesday.
That compares with the figure of more than 5,400 given by the United Nations last month since anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March.
The SNC, meanwhile, has “decided to head to the Security Council tomorrow, led by Burhan Ghaliun, to present the Syrian case... and demand protection,” executive committee member Samir Neshar told an Istanbul news conference.
He spoke after Gulf states and Turkey, which have led regional condemnation of Damascus, called on Assad to accept an Arab League proposal for him to step down and turn over power to his deputy before formation of a unity government.
Syria has categorically rejected the proposal.
“We hope Syria seriously evaluates the decisions of the Arab League, puts an end to repression against its people and start a reform process in line with the demands of the people,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
On Saturday, deadly clashes and an ambush on a bus transporting soldiers claimed at least 15 lives, according to activists and state media.
In the restive central town of Rastan in Homs province, “a large number of soldiers in the countless checkpoints inside the city deserted and turned their arms on the regime’s soldiers,’ according to a local activist.
Damascus does not recognise the scale of the protest movement, insisting instead that it is fighting “terrorist groups” seeking to sow chaos as part of a foreign-hatched conspiracy.
As the violence rages, wrangling continues over the wording of a draft Security Council resolution its supporters want put to the vote in the next week.
Russia made clear that the Arab and European draft formally submitted by Morocco on Friday crossed “our red lines.”
Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar said on Saturday the authorities in unrest-hit Syria are determined to “cleanse” the country of outlaws and restore order, quoted by state news agency SANA.
“The security forces are determined to carry on the struggle to cleanse Syria of renegades and outlaws ... to restore safety and security,” he said at a ceremony in honour of fallen soldiers.
“Groups are committing terrorist acts and killing innocent people, robbing them of their property and undermining their security,” he said.
Syria’s ambassador to Egypt has accused opposition activists backed by oil-rich Gulf Arab nations of storming the country’s embassy in Cairo.
Youssef Ahmed said in a statement that unspecified Gulf nations are funding activists from the opposition Syrian National Council, who he says broke down the gates of the embassy and stole documents from inside the building on Friday. He says Egyptian authorities “failed to protect” the embassy.
Numerous Syrian activists have taken refuge in Cairo during the 10-month long uprising against the regime in Damascus. Gulf nations have been among the strongest critics of the regime’s crackdown.
The Syrian National Council could not be reached immediately for comment on Saturday.
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said on Saturday it does not plan to move its headquarters out of unrest-hit Syria.
“There is no change, and Hamas has not taken any decision to leave Syria, and we are still there,” spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP.
He said the constant travels to Arab states of the movement’s Damascus-based chief Khaled Meshaal and other officials were aimed at consolidating Arab support for the Palestinian cause and inter-Palestinian reconciliation.
On Sunday, Meshaal is to make his first visit to Amman since he was expelled from the kingdom in 1999.
Hamas leaders will “keep Syria as their base even if they are obliged to stay away from the country a little more than before,” said a Palestinian official in Gaza City, on condition of anonymity.
“Hamas will not close its offices in Damascus and will not leave the country,” he said, although “for reasons of security some leaders may feel obliged at times to leave the country.”
Syria, a firm supporter of the Islamist movement, has been hit by more than 10 months of deadly anti-regime protests.