Obviously the agreement between the Syrian government and the Arab League is not being honoured. Two days after both sides agreed on a number of steps to end the Syrian crisis, the death toll continues to rise and Syrian forces continue to shoot at protesters.
On Wednesday, Damascus agreed to end the violence, pull its army off the streets, release the detainees and allow Arab League monitors and foreign media in, according to League officials.
But again, the Syrian government has failed to honour those commitments. The agreement lost whatever little credibility it may have had. And the ball is now in the League's court. Arab foreign ministers said the Syrian government's response will be monitored and if it fails to commit to the agreement, "appropriate measures" will be taken.
We don't know what those measures are. But we know that the Syrian regime has repeatedly reneged on its promises to end the violence and speed up the reforms promised by President Bashar Al Assad.
The Arab League initiative, launched to avoid international intervention according to Qatari Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani, had been met with scepticism from the Syrian opposition and many neutral observers. Most doubted that the Syrian regime would actually implement any part of the deal. "The regime is buying time," the opposition leaders said.
The regime has also been given one chance after another since the start of the protests in March. There must be a way to send a message, that is loud and clear, to the Syrian government that what is happening is not acceptable. No doubt, no Arab wants to see any form of international intervention in Syria's affairs. But the regime is not helping itself or the Arab League. Now, we await the "appropriate measures" from the Arab League that would protect Syrian civilians and hold the regime accountable.
