Expert: Arab League plan may lead Syria out of crisis

Azerbaijan, Baku, November 3 / Trend, A. Tagiyeva /

Arab League's plan assuming settlement of the problems in Syria may lead the country out of the crisis if the Asad regime fulfills the entire points of the plan, said Naser Al Gazali, an Arab-origin Swedish expert of Middle East.

"Whether the Arab League's initiative will be a success depends on to what extent Damascus will observe all points of the plan. If President Asad observes the terms of the plan it will become possible to get results," Al-Gazali told Trend by telephone on Thursday.
Attitude of the very Syrians to this plan is very essential, the expert said. The population of Syria most likely will be divided into supporters and opponents of the plan so they are expected to fight one another, Al-Gazali believes.

Syria has accepted the Arab League's plan of settlement of its internal crisis, Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad ben Jasem Al Tani reported on Wednesday. He said Syria has agreed with the League's plan that assumes cessation of violence by all participants of the conflict for the reasons of avoidance of new victims amongst Syrian civilians.

Besides, Damascus has taken the obligation to release prisoners who have been in prison as a result of the latest events. In the addition, the entire military hardware should be withdrawn from Syria's settlements. Under the plan, Damascus will also have to let employees of Arab League's different divisions and of Arab and world media enter Syria and have free movement there.

If the Government of Syria fulfills the commitments contained in the Arab plan the Arab Commission involved in the issue of settlement in Syria within two weeks will establish contacts with the Syrian opposition to arrange a national dialogue conference.

As viewed by Al-Gazali, the League's plan is important as it provides settlement of crisis inside Arab states without foreign intervention.

"This plan envisions settlement of the crisis without foreign intervention so Syrians will back the initiative," he said.

Al-Gazali also thinks if the League's plan does not resolve the Syrian crisis the situation in the country will go over to the West's control.

In the expert's opinion, the majority of Syrians are determined to implement the plan as they realize the danger of foreign interference with the situation.
Syria has been experiencing continuous anti-government protests for almost seven months. According to UN statistics, the number of clash victims exceeded 3,000 people. Syrian authorities say more than 1,500 people died on both sides.

The West demands to stop violence against demonstrators and vows ouster of the Syrian leader. China and Russia used their right to veto and on October 4 blocked the UN Security Council's draft resolution that envisioned sanctions if the Syrian authorities continued to suppress opposition's actions in the country and did not rule out the possibility of foreign intervention and recurrence of the "Libyan scenario" in Syria.