36 killed in Syria, as regime accepts Arab League plan

Nov 2, 2011, 18:17 GMT

Cairo - At least 36 people were killed in Syria Wednesday, as the Syrian government accepted an Arab League plan to end the unrest in the country - while the opposition expressed doubts about its implementation.

'The Syrian delegation accepted the Arab League plan without reservations and in its entirety,' Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al Thani said after a closed meeting at the 22-member Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

'We are pleased to reach this agreement and we will be more pleased if the agreement is immediately implemented,' he said.

He said that the Arab League plan provides for a complete halt of violence to protect civilians.

It also calls for the release of those detained as a result of the uprising, the withdrawal of forces from towns and districts where there have been armed clashes, and the granting of access to Arab League delegates as well as international media.

The Qatari official said that the Syrian authorities and the opposition were to meet within two weeks. He did not specify where such talks would take place.

However, he noted that Arab ministerial committee, which he heads, would meet to take the appropriate decision if the plan was not seriously implemented by the Syrian government.

Shortly after, the Syrian television announced that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will issue a decree in the coming hours to form a 'committee for dialogue.'

But Syrian opposition officials expressed serious doubts about the intentions of the al-Assad regime in implementing the Arab League plan.

Bassam Jaara, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Council in Europe, told al Jazeera television: 'The Syrian regime was forced to accept the agreement, but we doubt that the regime will implement it.'

The announcement coincided with more violence inside Syria between government forces and the opposition who have been calling on al-Assad to step down since mid-March.

Rami Abdel Rahman, spokesman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told dpa that 36 people were killed in Syria on Wednesday.

'A group of (army) deserters blew up a explosive device as a military van and a vehicle passed by in Al-Madiq area, killing seven soldiers,' the Human Rights group said in a statement.

Eight other security personnel were killed in a similar attack on a convoy carrying security agents and pro-regime militiamen on the road between Qaalet al-Madiq and Sqailbiyeh, it added.

'The attacks were carried out in response to the massacre of 11 workers earlier by a pro-regime group in Homs,' Abdel Rahman said.

The gunmen stormed a factory in the restive province of Homs, killing the 11 workers, while security forces shot dead ten civilians in several Homs neighborhoods, he added.

'How can we sit and carry out a dialogue with this regime,' Abdel Rahman told dpa.

'Who will try the killers of the innocent and free people of Syria?' he asked.

Omar Idlibi, a Syrian activist based in Lebanon told dpa, 'until now the regime has not admitted that there is an opposition in the country. They are insisting they are fighting a bunch of terrorists.'

Idlibi doubted that al-Assad regime would accept to recognize the Syrian opposition and carry out a dialogue.

More than 3,000 people, including at least 187 children, have been killed in the crackdown since protests began in mid-March, according to the United Nations.