Syria agreed Monday to let Arab League observers into the country to monitor implementation of a deal it agreed to last month to pull troops from protest-hit towns, free political prisoners and start talking to dissidents. Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi said that an advance team of observers would head to Damascus within 72 hours. “Within two or three days, an advance team of observers headed by Arab League Assistant Secretary General Samir Seif Al-Yazal, including security, legal and administrative observers, will be sent,” Al-Arabi told reporters. Other teams will follow, he said, adding that each team will comprise 10 observers specialized in human rights, legal and security issues. Al-Arabi was speaking at a joint news conference at League headquarters in Cairo with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Maqdad who earlier signed a document agreeing to allow observers into Syria. Al-Arabi said the agreement becomes effective from the moment it was signed, adding that the mission would last “one month” and can be renewed. “The Arab League has a list of 100 names of observers from Arab, non-governmental organizations and representatives of Arab countries... (and) this number will be increased at a later date,” he added. He also called on all parties concerned to make a show of “goodwill” in order to implement the agreement. The mission, he said, will allow the observers to move around Syria freely to monitor the situation and draft reports. “The protocol is nothing but an Arab mechanism to go to Syria and move freely in various areas to confirm the implementation of the Arab plan to which the Syrian government had previously agreed,” he said. The plan, endorsed by Syria on November 2, calls for a complete halt to the violence, the release of those detained as a result of recent events and the complete withdrawal of military presence from towns and residential districts. The dispatch of observers to monitor the situation and allowing Arab and international media to enter Syria and move freely throughout the country are among its key points.
