Arab League's head to discuss settlement of Syrian crisis in Damascus.

BEIRUT, September 10 (Itar-Tass) -- The Secretary-General of the
League of Arab States (Arab League) Nabil al-Arabi will discuss ways of
resolving the acute political crisis in Syria in Damascus on Saturday. As
it is expected, the Egyptian diplomat, whose visit was postponed twice,
will hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The administrative head of the inter-Arab community had intended to
visit Damascus on Wednesday, however, at the request of the Syrian side
his visit was postponed. As it turned out later, the Syrians were angry
about the arrival in Cairo of a delegation of opposition factions, which
visited the headquarters of the Arab League.
According to the newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, the Syrians gave the
cold shoulder to the Qatar-proposed "road map" for resolving the crisis.
This initiative, approved by the Council of the Arab League's foreign
ministers, provides for an immediate cessation of violence in the country,
the withdrawal of army units from cities, the release of prisoners and
political reforms in strict accordance with the timetable.
The fundamental point in the plan is to form a coalition
government of national unity after the country's general election.The
Syrian leader, according to the document, will remain in office until
2014, when the term of his presidential powers expires. As far as the role
of the Arab League is concerned, it will create a committee to monitor the
implementation of the "road map" for Syria.
Damascus made it clear that Syria is "capable of coping with its
problems on its own and needs no external assistance." However, according
to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, the Arab ministers have warned that in case of the
Syrian authorities' failure to hear the head of the Arab League, Syria's
membership of the organization will be suspended. It is noteworthy that
the main ally of Damascus - President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - recently called on Arab countries to promote a
dialogue between the Syrian regime and the Opposition. He made it clear to
his Syrian counterpart that he should stop the violence against peaceful
demonstrators.
On the latest "Friday of Anger" in Syria thirteen people were
killed. Mass arrests were carried out in the suburbs of the capital, in
Homs, Deir ez-Zor on the Euphrates, and in Idlib in the north. As the
leader of the Association of Syrian Youth in Support of Freedom, Samir
al-Shami, said over the telephone from Damascus, the success of rebels in
Libya gave new impetus to anti-government demonstrations in Syria, and the
authorities' attempts to put down the wave of protest demonstrations have
not yet led to the desired result.