Assad regime signs Arab League deal that calls for int'l monitors, withdrawal of army from towns, starting dialogue with opposition; China voices support for Russian UNSC resolution on Syria.
By REUTERSSyrian President Assad, Iranian President Ahmadinejad 311R(photo credit: Morteza Nikoubazl / Reuters)
Iran welcomed as "acceptable" an Arab peace deal signed by Syria on Monday that aims to end nine months of unrest against the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a senior official in Tehran told Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam news channel."Whatever is accepted by President Assad is an acceptable act in Iran's view," Iran's deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahi told Al Alam television.RELATED:Syria opposition wants Arabs to intervene militarily Qatar sees Syria signing Arab peace dealFrance rejects Russia's Syria resolutionEarlier Monday Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem said Damascus will welcome monitors from Arab countries after his deputy signed an Arab League peace initiative in Cairo aimed at ending a nine-month crackdown on protests against President Bashar Assad's rule.The deputy Iranian foreign minister said that his county believes "some modifications could be considered in the plan ... However, many of Iran's standpoints have been considered in the deal," he told the station.A Reuters witness saw Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad sign the protocol at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo and a League diplomat confirmed it had been inked.Syria has stalled for weeks over signing the protocol on monitors, although it had agreed to other parts of the plan. The League suspended Syria from the pan-Arab body and announced sanctions against Damascus.The initiative calls for withdrawing the army from towns, freeing thousands of political prisoners, starting dialogue with the opposition and letting monitors into the country.China voices support for Russian resolution on SyriaChina's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it supported a new, beefed-up draft resolution on the violence in Syria presented by Russia to the UN Security Council last week.The proposal offers a chance for the 15-nation panel to overcome deadlock and deliver its first statement of purpose on Assad's crackdown on nine months of protests which has killed 5,000 people according to the UN and provoked Western and Arab League sanctions on Damascus.Click for full JPost coverageThe council has been split, with Western countries harshly critical of Syria pitted against Russia, China and non-aligned countries that have avoided blaming Assad for the violence.
Long-time Syrian ally and arms supplier Russia took a step closer to the Western position last Thursday when it presented a surprise draft resolution at the United Nations which stepped up its criticism of the bloodshed in Syria."If there are discussions at the Security Council on the Syrian situation they should be conducive towards ameliorating the tense state of affairs, pushing political dialogue, bridging differences and maintaining peace and stability in the region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said."China supports the Russian proposal and applauds Russia's hard work at trying to resolve the Syrian crisis, and is willing to maintain contacts with all sides on this," he told a regular news briefing, without elaborating.China has played a low-key role in the turmoil that has swept the Middle East and North Africa, but it has also moved swiftly to normalize ties with governments which have been overthrown by popular revolts, such as in Libya.
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