LEAD: Arab League to continue Syria efforts despite UN veto

Feb 5, 2012, 15:03 GMT

Cairo - The Arab League will continue its efforts to halt the violence in Syria and end the political crisis, despite the United Nations Security Council failure to support the Arab peace plan, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said Sunday.

'The League will continue its efforts with the Syrian government and opposition ... to end violence, protect civilians and find a political solution for the change and reforms demanded by the Syrian people,' al-Arabi said in a statement.

The secretary general also said that the Russian and Chinese veto at the UN 'does not revoke the clear international support for the resolutions of the Arab League.'

An upcoming Arab League foreign ministers meeting scheduled on February 11 is expected to discuss the league's plans, and whether an Arab monitoring mission, which was suspended last month, will resume its work in the violence-stricken country.

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council, that came after an Arab League initiative that called on al-Assad to pass on power to his deputy, and recommended forming a transitional government in Syria.

The veto also came hours after opposition activists accused the government of a massacre in the central province of Homs, killing some 260 people from shelling by government troops.

According to UN estimates, more than 5,400 people have been killed since mid-March in the government crackdown on protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

On Sunday, at least a further 22 people were killed across Syria, including two children and a woman, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) said.

Most of those killed were in Homs, where government troops continued heavy shelling of the city with mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenade and machine gun fire, the LCC, which is a group of activists on the ground documenting the protests, said.

The LCC said that army forces detained owner of a hospital in the Damascus suburbs area, which treated injured protesters.

Syria was also singled out for condemnation during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, as politicians called on Arab countries to expel Syrian diplomats to show their disapproval of the ongoing government crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

'I declare the complete condemnation of this regime,' leading Arab Spring activist and Nobel Peace laureate Tawakkul Karman said.

The call was echoed by Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.

Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalid al-Attiyah meanwhile warned that the inability to pass a UN resolution effectively gave licence to Syria to continue the killing of protesters.

The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said on Sunday it 'holds both governments accountable for the escalation of killings and genocide, and considers this irresponsible step a license for the Syrian regime to kill without being held accountable.'

The group made of exiled opposition figures said it would support the pro-democracy protesters and Free Syrian Army - a group of army defectors - until Syria 'reaches the desired freedom and democracy.'

Army defectors launched several attacks on government troops early Sunday across Syria, killing 21 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Meanwhile, pro-Assad protesters gathered in central Damascus and the coastal city of Lattakia to express gratitude for Russia and China, 'for rejecting interference in Syria's affairs and supporting reform,' the state-run SANA news agency reported.