(Image source: ABC.net.au)
BY BLAKE HANSON
A spike is violence puts the Arab League’s observer mission in Syria on hold, Arab League leaders announced Saturday. WNBC reports...
“The league is responding to today’s reports of a massacre in the city of Homs. More than 30 people have been killed in a barrage of mortar fire and bullets reportedly fired by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.”
So does the suspension come as a shock? Not according to a BBC Middle East analyst, who says...
“...it is not a big surprise that the mission has been halted, as activists and human rights groups have accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of using it to buy time.”
A statement from the Arab League says they won’t be pulling the monitors out of the country, but a writer for the Daily Mail says even if the observer mission continues -- it won’t go forward with much support.
“...the mission has been widely criticised for failing to stop the violence. Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia pulled out of the mission. The UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a resolution since violence began in March because of strong opposition from Russia and China.”
The Christian Science Monitor says the observers face a staunch task, writing for the regime...
“... to abandon the course of violence, at this point, would amount to giving up the hopes of keeping his family in power. That's the motivating impetus behind the regime's actions, and a handful of observers can do little to change that.”
The U.N. says more than 5,400 have been killed since protests began in March.
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