CAIRO — After months of indecision on a response to the bloodshed in Syria, the Arab League on Saturday suspended Syria’s participation and sought other extraordinary censures that reflect the shifting politics of the region after this year’s “Arab Spring” uprisings.
The decision to freeze Syrian delegates’ activities stopped just short of full membership suspension. In addition, the Arab League warned of political and economic sanctions, urged Arab states to withdraw their envoys from Damascus, and called on Syrian forces to reject orders to fire on the protesters revolting against President Bashar Assad’s authoritarian rule.
“We were criticized for taking a long time, but this was out of our concern for Syria,” said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al Thani, who led the committee on Syria. “We needed to have a majority to approve those decisions.”
The 22-member, Cairo-based Arab League surprised political observers with Saturday’s measures, which went beyond what anyone had expected from a body regarded as calcified and toothless. Analysts used words such as “watershed” and “historic” as they parsed the announcement on Twitter.
Few predicted a chastened response from the defiant Assad, whose regime is accused of killing more than 3,500 protesters since mid-March. But the landmark move does show the extent of Assad’s isolation in the changing Middle East.
Countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, where revolts have toppled heads of state, were eager to show solidarity with the Syrian protesters. Arab states in the Persian Gulf, meanwhile, are locked in a battle with Iran, Assad’s main backer, for regional influence.
Analysts said the league’s decision Saturday was equal parts punishment for Assad and provocation for Iran.
Arab Unrest
LIBYA: Interim leader assures EU official over extremist worries.
Libya won’t turn into an extremist Islamic country, its interim leader assured the European Union’s top diplomat Saturday, adding that the formation of a new government of experts is to be completed in the coming week.
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, caused a stir in the West last month when he said Islamic Shariah law would be the main source of legislation in the new Libya.
YEMEN: Six al-Qaeda fighters killed.
Yemeni soldiers killed six al-Qaeda-linked fighters in the southern city of Zinjibar on Saturday, a security official said, raising doubts about the government’s claim to have retaken full control of the area after months of fighting.
Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, was seized in May by Islamic militants taking advantage of the turmoil surrounding the popular uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh to expand their reach.
BAHRAIN: Authorities say they uncovered terrorist cell.
Bahrain says a terrorist cell plotting attacks against the gulf kingdom has been uncovered by security officials in neighboring Qatar and that the four suspects have links to Iran. The Interior Ministry said in a statement Saturday that the four detained Bahrainis had a laptop containing sensitive security information about sites like the Saudi Embassy and the Interior Ministry building in Bahrain’s capital.
Denver Post wire services
