With the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad not showing any sign of honoring its pledge to stop cracking down on protesters and to assist in a smooth power transfer to a transitional government, the Syrian crisis appears to be moving toward internationalization amid rising calls for the problem to be referred to the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Arab foreign ministers were reported to have met on Sunday to discuss whether to ask the United Nations to assist their mission in Syria which has failed to end a 10-month crackdown by Al-Assad's regime on anti-government protests in which thousands were reported to have died. A proposal by Qatar is to invite UN technicians and human rights advocates to help Arab monitors assess whether Syria is honoring its pledge to stop cracking down on street protesters demanding that Al-Assad steps down and hands over the rein of government to a group that will oversee a smooth transfer of power so that a more democratic rule can be instituted. If that happens, the Syrian political crisis will be internationalized and would become more complicated amid signs of the regime's tenacious efforts to hold on to power and maneuvering to buy time probably in the hope that it can convince the world community that only the regime can put the country together and stop attempts by extremist groups like Al-Qaeda to gain foothold in the troubled nation. As it is, Syria is in a political limbo with Al-Assad's regime sending ambivalent signals on whether it will honor its pledge to hand over power to a transitional government or to cling to it as the regime of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi did until it was forcibly toppled by the insurgents who now rule the North African country. If the regime continues to cling on to power despite its isolation and the growing clamor for Al-Assad himself to step down and relinquish power to a transitional government, it will place itself in confrontation not only with its former allies and neighbors but also with the world community. We can only guess what will happen next. The Arab League has already done its best to find a suitable solution to Syrian crisis but the regime does not seem to realize or care about the problems that it will leave for Syria and the Middle East region if it continues to procrastinate on its pledge to bring about reforms so that a new democratic rule will take over in the country. We hope that Al-Assad and his supporters will realize the gravity of their actions and come to their senses that the only honorable option left for them is to hand over the rein of power to a transitional government for the sake of their own people. They cannot keep on sacrificing the lives of street protesters and the stability of the region for their own selfish interests and personal ambitions. There will surely be an end to a regime that has lost the support of its own people. __
