Beirut (dpa) – Syrian opposition activists have described as a “mockery” an Arab League mission inspecting whether Damascus is complying with a peace plan to end a crackdown on protesters, doubting the mission would be able to fairly assess the situation. “What can you expect from a delegation, which mainly saw Syrian security forces firing at protesters and then it's leader says we saw nothing frightening,” said Abdallah Amjad, a Syrian activist who fled to neighboring Lebanon from the flashpoint city of Homs. “What we saw so far from this mission is a mockery … ” he said. Sudanese General Mustafa al-Dabi, who is heading the Arab League mission, was criticized by the Syrian opposition after he said he had seen “nothing frightening” in Homs, a hotbed of protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Arab League plan, which Syria accepted last week, calls on Damascus to withdraw the army from civilian areas, release all political detainees and initiate dialogue with the opposition. “Activists in Homs met with the delegation and accompanied them on a tour on Wednesday across the Baba Amr neighborhood, they saw with their own eyes how people there are living,” Amjad told dpa. Amjad left behind two brothers who are still living in the neighborhood of Baba Amr, which was heavily pounded by the army. The Syrian opposition has also question the selection of al-Dahi, a former Sudanese intelligence chief under President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide in Darfur. Sudan has refused to comply with the ICC's war crimes tribunal. “We are worried that General Dabi will not take a tough stance and report extensively what he saw on the ground,” said Amjad, echoing opposition concerns that the Sudanese official would not recommend tough action against Syria. “One of my brothers met with the delegation and toured Baba Amr with them, they were shocked by what they saw,” said Amjad. He quoted one of the observers as telling his brother: “This is a real tragedy.” But Amjad said activists inside Baba Amr, felt that the observers were not doing “serious work” and that some of the team members were turning “a blind eye to some things they saw.” “The residents took them to a mosque and showed them bodies of people who died from torture,” Amjad said. Some residents shouted: “Do not be false witnesses to massacres committed by this regime.” Some 60 observers have traveled to Syria and 90 more are expected by the end of the month. “Those observers should know that the future of innocent people depends on them,” Amjad said. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/9T7q6 Tags: Activist, Arab League, Mockery Section: Latest News, Syria
