Posted on March 26, 2013 by Libya 360°
Download Interview with Daoud Khairallah
A political analyst tells Press TV that the Arab League (AL) has violated its own charter with respect to the Syrian crisis and they are doing whatever they can to prevent any peaceful negotiated solution in Syria.The comments came after the Syrian government censured a decision by the Arab League (AL) to hand Syria’s seat to opposition forces on the eve of the organization’s annual summit in the Qatari capital.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Daoud Khairallah, professor at Georgetown University, to further discuss the issue. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: What exactly does it mean, how can the Arab League according to international agreements actually when the government has not been overthrown, there is still an autonomous government in Damascus, how can they decide to basically pick this rebel group, if you want to call them, instead of the Syrian government?
Khairallah: Well simply they can disregard the Charter of the Arab League, they can disregard any legal or moral rule and they can apply corruption and money in every way they can to prevent any peaceful negotiated solution in Syria.
These are the people, those who are fanning the fire, those who are arming the rebels, those who do not want the Syrians to come together and stop the destructions. They have done what is logical in relation to what they have been doing.
First the Charter of the Arab League Article 8 prohibited it from interfering in the internal affairs of any member country, particularly with respect to the form of government. So here they have violated their own charter.
Two, they know that now there is almost a desire even among the opposition, the most prudent and most nationalists of the Syrian opposition including in the Coalition itself, including the head of Coalition, Mr. al-Khatib who just resigned, they realized that there is a feeling among the Syrians that they want to come together and find a peaceful solution and these guys, those who are promoting bloodshed in Syria, they continue to do what is likely to divide and make it more unlikely that any kind of solution, peaceful solution, negotiated solution would be materialized.
Press TV: Professor, how dangerous of a precedent is this, as you said it is illegal according to the organization’s own charter? We are seeing now it appears that international law is not only ignored by what the so-called thugs or gangs but actually legal entities now are ignoring international law. Tell me about the danger in this precedent?
Khairallah: Well every institution, every country, the standard of legitimacy of behavior, the standard of correctness in their behavior would be respect of their own laws.
The law of the Arab league has not been respected in the first place with respect to the Syrian crisis from the beginning and that Arab League that is supposed to bring together Arabs has acted actively, has been actively working to prevent a kind of coming together especially with respect to Syria.
This Arab league that was created at the time when Israel was a dream and they wanted to, that was becoming a reality, it was created to prevent that project from being a reality and the first acts that they have taken, the first resolutions was to boycott any Jewish organization that will help creating the …[entity] of Israel.
One of the first decisions that they have taken once Israel was declared a…[entity] was to have an Arab defense convention and the boycott and everything else, this same League now does everything that would promote the desires of the Israelis and divide the Arabs and prevent any kind of union among them.