Arab League Only Way to Syria Transition, Medelci

Foreign Minister, Mourad Medelci, said on Wednesday an Arab initiative to resolve the Syrian crisis must be given “maximum chance” to broker a change of power through dialogue between government and opposition and avert civil war.

Mr Medelci was in Paris for talks with France about developments in the Arab world and the fight against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

“Syria is a major concern for the Arab countries,” Mr Medelci told French lawmakers. “Today it finds itself in a pre-civil war situation.

“Today we are in a situation where we are putting pressure on the Syrian government and, on the other hand, talking to the opposition to create the conditions for dialogue,” he said.

“Outside of this dialogue this transition will not happen. We must give the maximum chance to this Arab initiative.”

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, now nearly nine months old, have stalled, with President Bashar al-Assad so far rejecting a peace plan offered in early November by the 22-state Arab League.

That plan calls for government forces to be withdrawn to barracks and Arab observers to be allowed into Syria.

Medelci said the observers were needed to ascertain exactly what was happening on the ground, as information coming out of Syria was not always clear.

France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppe, has already said the Syrian National Council, which is based in Paris, is the legitimate partner that France wants to work with.

Medelci said everything had to be done to avoid turning the conflict in Syria into an international one, as had occurred in Libya, where NATO forces helped to contribute to the eventual overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.