BEIRUT, January 8 (Itar-Tass) —— The League of Arab States (LAS) demanded “an immediate and full end to all types of violence in Syria from the authorities and gunmen of various armed groups.” The meeting of the LAS special ministerial committee was held under the chairmanship of Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir Al Thani in Cairo on Sunday, the Al Jazeera television channel said with the reference to a final communiqu· of the LAS special committee for Syrian settlement.
The LAS meeting discussed the first report of the head of the LAS observer mission Sudanese general Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi. The report dwelt on the results of a two-week LAS observer mission. Sheikh Hamad noted that the LAS special committee insists the Syrian authorities should fulfil immediately all roadmap provisions for the settlement of the crisis. “We expect that the Syrian government will take decisive measures to stop bloodshed,” he said. “The LAS observer mission should be granted a larger independence to make this mission more efficient,” the Qatari prime minister said. For his part, the LAS general secretary noted that Arab experts “will continue their mission in Syria and the mission will not be limited in time.”
Meanwhile, the Arab League is planning to increase the number of observers in Syria and to build up the financial and technical support to the LAS observer mission, the LAS special ministerial committee on Syria at the level of foreign ministers said in a statement.
The LAS ministerial committee decided that LAS Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi should continue to coordinate the efforts with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in order to give the LAS observer mission greater technical possibilities. Along with the material and technical support the LAS observers will receive the political and information assistance.
Meanwhile, the committee urged the LAS states to speed up the financing of the observer mission and recommended increase the allocations to fulfil an inter-Arab roadmap for the settlement of the crisis in Syria from one to five million dollars. This sum may be increased depending from the conditions and needs of the LAS observer mission.
Moreover, the Qatari prime minister, who is presiding in the committee, offered to increase the number of observers from 163 to 300 in the LAS observer mission.
The LAS observers are working in the conflict districts in the provinces Hamah, Homs, Idlib, Daraa and neighbouring districts to the capital, where the clashes continue along with armed raids of gunmen from servicemen, who deserted from the Syrian army. The LAS special committee noted in a statement that al-Dabi’s report “is made up in the professional way and is distinguished with its unbiased and neutral keynote.” The Syrian television reported that the document condemned the recent terrorist acts in Damascus, where many civilians were killed.