Arab League Intervenes as Syrian Uprising on Verge of Civil War
Interview with Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, conducted by Scott Harris
Like many of its neighbors throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Syrians took to the streets last March, demanding political and economic reforms from the nation’s authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad. The United Nations estimates that 5,000 civilians have been killed in a brutal government crackdown that continues to escalate. In reaction to the rising violence and the very real possibility of a civil war, the Arab League attempted to intervene in early November. Although President Assad agreed in principle to the League proposal to send monitors into his country and begin negotiations with the opposition, he delayed signing the accord until December 19th.
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http://www.btlonline.org/2011/seg/111230af-btl-landis.html