Arab League turns to UN for support on Syria

[tabatha]

3. The Arab League to Syria’s President: It’s Time for You to Go

BEIRUT – The epithet that seemed to be perpetually attached to the Arab League was “toothless.” On Sunday, however, the organization was baring fangs at Syria. In the absence of a detailed political roadmap from the Syrian opposition, the Arab League presented its own audacious plan, calling on Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power to his vice president who would then form a national unity government within two months ahead of early parliamentary and presidential elections.

The proposal, outlined by Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani in a press conference at the League’s headquarters in Cairo, also demands Assad begin a national dialogue with the opposition within two weeks, and that the unity government elect a council within three months of its formation to write a new constitution. “I call on Syrian authorities to accept their responsibilities before God, and their people and the Arab nation,” Sheikh Hamad said, after a nearly-five hour meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo. “We know that Syria has entered a period of violence and counter violence.” He added that the members of the opposition “are arming to defend themselves.”

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2105066-2,00.html