Syria Not Living Up to Arab League Agreement: US State Department
Published at
KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. State Department on Tuesday refused to join criticism from some of its allies, namely France, that the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria is flawed and not protecting civilian lives as intended.
“We’re not going to pass judgment on the Arab League mission in advance of the Arab League itself meeting and taking stock,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, referring to an Arab League meeting on the subject this weekend. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is dispatching her top aide to the region, Assistant Secretary of State for near eastern affairs Jeffrey Feltman, to Cairo to attend.
Instead, Nuland blamed the Assad regime for failing to implement an agreement to halt the violence.
“Our concern is that the Syrian regime has not lived up to the full spectrum of commitments that it made to the Arab League when it accepted its proposal some nine weeks ago. For example, the violence hasn’t stopped — far from it. We’ve had reports from independent observers of some 49 new deaths in Syria since the 31st of December,” she said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio