Arab League chief holds Assad regime fully responsible for Syria chaos

The Secretary-General of the Arab League said on Monday that he holds Bashar Al-Assad’s regime fully responsible for the current situation in Syria.

Nabil Elaraby made his comment during a speech delivered at the opening session of the expanded conference of the Syrian opposition in Cairo. More than 200 people are taking part with the aim of reaching a consensus on a document adopted by the opposition groups which includes their demands for any possible political solution to the crisis in the country, which has been ongoing for more than 4 years.

According to Elaraby, the Syrian regime bears full responsibility for taking the military option and not responding to political initiatives to solve this crisis. “As the crisis worsens,” he explained, “and the risks arising from its regional and international repercussions increase, we must all urgently reconsider what has been followed so far, of policies that were put forward to tackle the crisis after all parties realised that the military solution is not going to work and the use of violence would be a mistake.”

The Arab League chief confirmed that the solution in Syria should be “a peaceful, Syrian one.”

In turn, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called on the conference to avoid any disagreement in viewpoints and to unite their efforts in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people in order to increase the likelihood of reaching a political solution. “Saving the lives of Syrian children requires exceptional efforts to reach consensus and get over many of the differences around the small issues,” he told the opening session. “Egypt recognises the amount of pressure put on you by parties that have adapted to the conflict and found purpose in achieving political and personal interests through it.” He assured participants that Egypt’s people and state will stand behind them to support their efforts to reach a political solution and enable them to commit to their duty towards the Syrian people.