Syria: Arab League split over sending troops - live updates
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| General Nabil Alarabi and Qatari foreign minister Hamad bin Jasim |
• Arab League could discuss military intervention in Syria
• Monitors and protesters attacked in Zabadani
• New reforms in Bahrain don't go far enough say opposition
• Monitors and protesters attacked in Zabadani
• New reforms in Bahrain don't go far enough say opposition
The brother of a Homs-based campaigner who has guided Arab League monitors to evidence of the government's crackdown has been killed, according to activists.
Khalid Abu Salah, has featured in a number of videos accompanied by Arab League observers. He also introduced league monitors to members of the Free Syria Army (pictured in the blue jumper).
Now distressing new video has emerged purporting to show him crying over the dead body of his brother Ahmed [warning: upsetting content].
(all times GMT) Welcome to Middle East Live. A call by Qatar for military intervention in Syria has exposed divisions in the Arab League, as the crackdown by the government of President Bashar al-Assadcontinues.
Here's a round up of the latest developments in Syria and elsewhere in the region:
Syria
• The Arab League suggested a Qatari proposal to send Arab troops to Syria could be discussed this week, al-Arabiya reports. But the idea has exposed divisions in the league. Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki said: "Such intervention would signify that the war will spread across the whole region, opening the way to all powers, following the example of Turkey, Israel, Iran and Hezbollah. That would mean the whole region exploding."
• Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (pictured) the Emir of Qatar, which led the Arab involvement in the Libyan conflict, said he now favoured sending troops "to stop the killing", the first Arab leader to say so publicly. He won support from the former head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who said: "The Arab League should begin to study this possibility and begin consultations on this issue." Sheikh Hamad recorded the interview calling for intervention in mid November according to al-Jazeera. It is unclear why there were was delay broadcasting his comments.
• A team of Arab League observers came under fire in Zabadani after being warmly greeted by protesters in the town, the LA Times reports.
Residents mobbed the observers' car, clamoured to tell of their plight, and carried one of them away on their shoulders in celebration. But just hours later, the five league representatives sped away under a hail of bullets. It was impossible to determine who was doing the shooting.
• President Bashar al-Assad offered an amnesty to citizens who have taken up arms against his rule in a 10-month revolt that has dragged the country to the point of outright war. It came as United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon again condemned Assad. "Today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of repression is a dead end," he said.
Iraq
• Security forces battled gunmen who detonated a car bomb before blasting their way into a government compound and killing seven policemen, police and local government officials said. The three-hour standoff between Shia-dominated security forces and suspected Sunni insurgents in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, marked the first serious gun battle for Iraqi forces against insurgents without American backup since the US military completed its withdrawal last month.
• Iraqi state security officers are systematically arresting people on trumped-up charges, torturing them and extorting bribes from their families for their release, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports. During two trips to the country before and after the US withdrawal from the country on 18 December, the Guardian interviewed 14 detainees and five officers in different branches of the security service in Baghdad. All the detainees said they had had to pay money to be freed, even though most had been acquitted in the courts.
• Iraq now finds itself at a juncture that in many ways is more dangerous and instructive than the darkest days of 2006, writes Martin Chulov. Back then there was no expectation the state could lead Iraq to a better place. Six years on, and with violence much lower, Iraqis have even less faith in the state, despite it being much better placed – at face value – to provide for its citizens.
• Iraq now finds itself at a juncture that in many ways is more dangerous and instructive than the darkest days of 2006, writes Martin Chulov. Back then there was no expectation the state could lead Iraq to a better place. Six years on, and with violence much lower, Iraqis have even less faith in the state, despite it being much better placed – at face value – to provide for its citizens.
Bahrain
• King Hamad has announced constitutional amendments to give greater powers to parliament, but the concessions fell short of the opposition's demands for change, the New York Times reports. "His speech fell short of our expectations," said Sayyid Hadi Hasan al-Mosawi, a former legislator and a member of Wefaq, the largest legal opposition group. "The measures did not reflect any of the opposition or the people's demands."
Libya
• A weekend of clashes in Libya has left at least two people dead and more than 40 injured, the BBC reports. Rival armed groups fired rockets and heavy machine guns around the town of Gharyan, about 80km (50 miles) south of the capital, Tripoli. The interim government had been trying to broker a ceasefire but failed.
Iran
• Iran has urged its Arab neighbours not to increase oil production if the European Union bans Iranian crude imports. Iran's Opec governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said Tehran would see any move to fill in for Iranian crude as Arab producers siding with Iran's opponents.
Egypt
• Egypt's stalled transition can be revived only if the new parliament dismantles the country's repressive legal framework, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. It sets out nine areas of Egyptian law that the newly elected parliament must urgently reform if the law is to become an instrument that protects Egyptians' rights rather than represses them.
• There is much speculation about Mohamed ElBaradei's next move after he announced he is withdrawing from the presidential race, the Arabist reports.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk/There is now talk of ElBaradei launching a political party or some kind of movement (or perhaps just doing more with his existing National Coalition for Change). There are certainly a lot of people who feel that while his critique of the transition may be valid, he has not been clear on what the alternative is.
