Supported by several regional countries, the Syrian opposition is moving rapidly to undermine the Russia-backed regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which continues to remain defiant despite facing mounting international pressure.
On Monday, King Abdullah II of Jordan became the first Arab leader to ask Mr. Assad to step down. In an interview with the BBC, the Jordanian monarch said: “If Bashar [al-Assad] has the interest of his country [at heart] he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life.”
His remarks, seemingly made after studied deliberation, provoked immediate outrage among Mr. Assad's supporters. Angry crowds marched to the Jordanian embassy in Damascus. Some climbed up the building and replaced the Jordanian flag with a Syrian one.
King Abdullah's assertions only seemed to escalate multi-directional pressure that was being imposed on Mr. Assad, who had earlier been served notice by the Arab League, either to reign in violence by Wednesday against the opposition, or face suspension from the grouping. The League also warned Syria that it might internationalise the situation by approaching the U.N.
Following up on its Cairo meeting on Saturday, the League has now asked Syrian dissidents to compile a document detailing their vision of a post-Assad Syria. Abdel Basset Sedah, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) told Reuters that his organisation had been meeting League officials on Monday and Tuesday. These meetings are expected to lead to a mega-conference that would deliberate on a transition road-map for Syria, which would include negotiations to enable the regime to step-down. Another SNC delegation has headed for Moscow, to persuade the Russian leadership to cool its support for Mr. Assad's government.
Faced with the firestorm of opposition from its neighbouring countries, the Assad regime, instead of buckling in, has continued to dig in its heels. On Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem castigated most Arab countries for betraying Syria. “We wanted the role of the Arab League to be a supporting role but if the Arabs wanted to be conspirators, this is their business,” he said in Damascus.
Syrian state-media, citing larger geopolitical issues, has been blaming the United States, of conspiring against the government.
State-run Al Watan newspaper attributed moves to undermine the Assad regime and attempts to supplant it with a pro-western government, as efforts to fill a power vacuum that would result from the impending U.S. military pull-out from neighbouring Iraq, which is closely allied with Washington's arch-foe Iran.
