Dubai: The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) on Tuesday condemned President Bashar Al Assad's speech as an "incitement to violence" and a war against Arab countries and the Arab League.
In a telephone interview, SNC member Haitham Al Maleh told Gulf News that Al Assad's "coded" message meant that the regime's militia, known as Shabiha, have the right to kill Arab monitors in Syria.
"I am sure that Shabiha will attack some of the Arab League's 160-member mission ... The League will be forced into a position where it will be left with no option but to withdraw the monitors because of the danger to their lives," Al Maleh said two hours before the first attack on the Arab monitors was reported in the media.
League chief Nabeel Al Arabi also indicated such attacks could bring about the end of the mission. He spoke after protesters mobbed a Kuwaiti observers' vehicle, slightly injuring two officials.
"There is incitement to violence, incitement to civil strife, some talk about sectarian divisions which the regime itself has fomented and encouraged," Basma Qadmani, a member of the SNC, the largest opposition umbrella group, was quoted as saying.
In his speech, Al Assad vowed to strike "terrorists" with an iron fist and derided the League for its attempts to halt violence. His speech contained vague promises of reform, but no sweeping concessions.
Al Maleh said: "Al Assad cannot offer a political solution to end violence in Syria. I never expected him to come up with a proper solution to end the bloodshed, but no one had expected him to slam the League the way he did in his speech."
