Syria: Violence Escalates Despite Arab League Deadline

Despite a deadline set by the Arab League to end the violent crackdown in Syria to expire on Saturday, violence escalated in Syria. 14 civilians were killed in in clashes with security forces, including two army defectors, in Homs. The violence comes “a day after the government agreed in principle to allow the Arab League to send observers to oversee a peace plan proposed by the 22-member bloc.” However, The Arab League’s Secretary General, Nabil Elaraby, noted that the Syrian government had “requested unspecified” amendments to the plan, making it unclear if the government had accepted the proposal.

Wissam Tarif, a longtime Syrian human rights activist with the advocacy group Avaaz, said in regards to letting human rights monitors in, “I don’t think the Syrians are serious. I think they are bluffing..This is a game they are playing.” International pressure has increased on the Syria government over the violence, as “Britain, France, the United States and Syrian ally Russia have called for Assad to step down.” Amidst the growing sectarian strife in Syria, Anthony Shadid wrote in the New York Times that sectarian conflict has spread across Syria “with supporters and opponents of the government blamed for beheadings, rival gangs carrying out tit-for-tat kidnappings, minorities fleeing for their native villages, and taxi drivers too fearful of drive-by shootings to ply the streets.”