ARAB TIMES
Yemeni Protesters Shout Slogans During A Demonstration Against The Law Of Immunity Pertaining To Outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 10, (Agencies): Two Kuwaiti army officers who are part of the Arab League observer mission in Syria were “slightly hurt” in an attack by “unidentified protesters,” the Gulf state’s defence ministry said Tuesday.
The incident is the first reported case in which Arab League observers in Syria have been wounded.
The two soldiers were treated in a hospital following the Monday incident and later discharged in good health, the ministry said in a statement cited by Kuwait’s official KUNA news agency.
They have resumed work at the mission’s headquarters in Syria, the statement added.
Observers from Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates were attacked while heading to the coastal city of Latakia, said the statement, without providing further details.
Six Kuwaiti army officers are taking part in the League’s observer mission, which has been in Syria since Dec 26 trying to assess whether President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending a bloody crackdown on dissent.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Tuesday denounced attacks on Arab observers in Syria, in which some were wounded, and said he was holding the government in Damascus responsible for their mission.
“The Arab League denounces the irresponsible action and acts of violence against the League’s observers,” Arabi said in a statement issued by his office.
“It considers the Syrian government totally responsible for the protection of the members of the observer mission.”
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem insisted his government would continue to guarantee the observers’ safety after President Bashar al-Assad mocked their work in a rare speech.
Arabi said “some members of the mission were victim of violent attacks carried out by pro-regime elements in Latakia and Deir Ezzor, and from elements considered to be members of the opposition in other areas.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed on Tuesday to strike “terrorists” with an iron fist and derided the Arab League for its attempts to halt violence in a 10-month-old revolt against his rule.
The president’s 100-minute speech, his first public address since June, contained vague promises of reform, but no sweeping concessions that might split an opposition now determined to end more than four decades of domination by the Assad family.
Assad, 46, gave no sign that he was willing to relinquish the power he inherited on his father’s death in 2000.
“I am not someone who abandons responsibility,” he declared. “I am in this position because of support from the people and if I leave it will be because of the desire of the people.”
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) branded Tuesday’s keynote address by President Bashar al-Assad an “incitement to violence,” indicating “more criminal behaviour” by the regime.
“There is incitement to violence, incitement to civil strife, some talks about sectarian divisions which the regime itself has fomented and encouraged,” said Basma Qadmani, a member of the SNC, the largest opposition umbrella group.
In a speech lasting almost two hours, Assad blamed foreign plotters for 10 months of protests against his regime and said his government would tackle terrorism with an “iron fist”.
“Our concern today is that such a speech is quite indicative of the total dismissal by the regime of the international community,” Qadmani said at a press conference in Istanbul.
“And that is an indication that we are going in the direction of more irresponsible and more criminal behaviour by the regime in the coming days and weeks.”
Activists say Syrian security forces have shot dead at least 10 people in an eastern city despite the presence of an Arab observer mission in the area.
Russia on Tuesday praised Arab League observers and urged them to continue their mission in conflict-torn Syria, after critics complained their work served only to cover up regime abuses.
“Their deployment in this country already has a stabilising effect on the situation, and helps obtain a truthful and objective picture of what is happening in Syria,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We are convinced that as a pan-Arab organisation, the Arab League is designed to play a leading role in consolidating international and regional efforts to peacefully overcome the internal Syrian crisis and immediately stop any violence.”
Bahrain
A Bahraini appeal court has ordered the retrial of two men sentenced to death for running over and killing two policemen during pro-democracy protests last year, state media reported.
However, a US rights campaigner said he had been prevented from entering Bahrain to observe a separate appeal hearing this week for medical workers jailed on charges including incitement to overthrow the government during the protests.
Bahrain remains in crisis after the Sunni Muslim monarchy repressed the protests led by majority Shi’ites by force last year. Demonstrators continue to clash daily with police but in smaller protests scattered throughout the Gulf island state.
Courts are reviewing many cases after a rights commission, formed by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa after international criticism of the crackdown, talked of torture and abuse during over two months of martial law.
The state news agency BNA said the court of cassation, the kingdom’s highest appeals court, had overturned the death sentences for the two Bahrainis on Monday as well as a life jail sentence for one other.
The original verdicts were handed down by a military court in May but the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) criticised the military courts in its report issued in November.
The men face a retrial in a civil court, BNA said. The incident happened during an operation to retake control of a traffic roundabout in Manama which had become the centre of the protests in February and March.
Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet that patrols the Gulf from where a large portion of world oil supplies are shipped. The government says Shi’ite power Iran is fomenting the unrest, a charge opposition figures and activists deny.
Opposition groups are demanding a retrial or revoking of sentences in other cases. These include that of 21 political figures, rights activists and a blogger accused of leading the protests to change the political system violently. Eight of them received life sentences.
Rick Sollom of the US-based organisation Physicians for Human Rights said in message on Twitter that he had been held at Manama airport this week for hours and refused entry.
Sollom had wanted to attend an appeal by 20 medical workers sentenced to 5 to 15 years on charges including incitement to overthrow the government and attempting to occupy a hospital.
“The Bahrain Government continues to undermine its stated commitment to human rights reform by holding sham trials, attacking human rights defenders and denying access to international observers,” said Brian Dooley of US group Human Rights First in a statement criticising Sollom’s treatment.
A statement by the human rights ministry said Sollom would be welcome after Feb 22, the deadline the government has set itself for implementing the BICI recommendations.
The medics’ trial provoked heavy international criticism, prompting prosecutors to order an appeal hearing in a civilian court. A court this week set the next session for March 19.
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