The Arab League ratcheted up the pressure on Syria on Wednesday by suspending the country’s membership and calling for urgent measures to end the escalation of months-long violence. Meanwhile, adding to the government’s woes, reports also emerged that Syrian army defectors launched an attack on an intelligence base.
The assault on the Harasta air force intelligence base is the most significant attack on a Syrian military target carried out by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group of army defectors, who are looking to end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad following eight months of crackdowns.
On its Facebook page, the FSA said, “Strong explosions around the complex shook its foundations,” referring to the notorious Harasta intelligence base near Aleppo.
The attack can be viewed as a significant one because the base serves as an intelligence hub for the feared air force intelligence. The strike was confirmed by the Syrian National Council, a collection of opposition groups based in Turkey.
The FSA added that it carried out multiple attacks and “special operations in several areas in Damascus in order to spoil the regime’s plans against civilians and our homeland.”
Syrian state-run media on Wednesday made no mention of the attack on the base, which is located in a relatively remote area.
The air base raid came before an urgent Arab League meeting to make a final decision on whether or not Syria should be suspended. With the suspension came sanctions and other restrictions.
Next ... Arab League Ups Pressure
Arab League Ups Pressure
Arab League heads, during an emergency meeting in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, which was attended by Turkey, said in confirming the country’s suspension that the deadline for removing army tanks from Syria’s streets has passed. The resolution stopped short of recommending foreign intervention.
The League told Syria it has three days to “stop the bloody repression” and permit international observers into the country.
Syrian state media reported that thousands of pro-Assad supporters “flocked” to public places throughout the country, decrying the Arab League’s “decision against Syria and the foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs.”
The supporters, however, turned violent soon after mobs attacked Moroccan, Qatari, and Emirati embassies, reported Al-Arabiya television. This comes just a day after Syria said there would be no more attacks on foreign missions inside the country.
Missions belonging to one of Syria’s biggest critics, France, was likewise attacked, according to Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. “There has been renewed violence in Syria, which has led me to close our consular offices in Aleppo and in Latakia, as well as our cultural institutes and to recall our ambassador to Paris,” he said, according to Al-Arabiya.
The United Nations estimates that more than 3,500 civilians have been killed in Syria since anti-government protests began in March.
The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, said at least 376 civilian deaths were reported since the Arab League gave Syria the ultimatum to stop the crackdown in early November. If confirmed, it would make November the bloodiest month during the crackdown.
The league initially called on Syria to stop killing protesters, release political prisoners, and allow an impartial investigation.
League Suspension a Stepping Stone
Barbara Slavin, a senior fellow with the Washington, D.C.-based Atlantic Council think tank, writes that the unprecedented decision handed down by the league could “mark the beginning of the end of” al-Assad’s family dictatorship that has ruled for four decades.
While the process to get rid of al-Assad will be lengthy and violent, the league’s suspension “will embolden the opposition and encourage key foreign countries such as Syrian neighbor Turkey to turn decisively against the regime,” she notes.
Neighboring Turkey had already imposed light sanctions on Syria and has given al-Assad’s regime sharp warnings. Meanwhile, in the past several days, Jordan’s King Abdullah called for him to step down.
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