Defector to direct rebels; Qatar Emir wants Arab troops in Syria

The Emir of Qatar says that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to try to end the violence.

BEIRUT // A top Syrian army defector was set to take charge of the rebel army's operations yesterday with plans to form a high military council that would encourage large-scale army defections.

Mostafa Al Sheikh, 54, is the most senior military figure to quit his position in the Syrian army in protest at the escalating violence and killings. He fled to Turkey this month, joining the swelling ranks of former soldiers who have taken up arms against the regime of President Bashar Al Assad.

"This high military council, headed by Sheikh, will oversee military operations in conjunction with the Free Syrian Army (FSA)," said the former general's media adviser, Fahad Almasri.

"The council will include high-ranking officers who will plan operations to be executed by the FSA. It will also help organise defections within the army and will be in contact with officers in the regular army to encourage large-scale rather than individual defections."

In recent months, as more Syrian soldiers have deserted the army, the uprising, which started as a peaceful protest movement, has become increasingly armed. The Free Syrian Army, an opposition group comprising defected soldiers, says it is 40,000-strong, though this number cannot be independently verified.

The Emir of Qatar has said that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to try to end the violence. When asked about the possibility of Arab military intervention in an interview with US news programme 60 Minutes to be aired today, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said that "some troops should go to stop the killing".

The suggestion of military intervention by Qatar - which has become an increasingly vocal critic of the regime's crackdown on protests - is the first such public statement by an Arab leader. The Emir's comments come amid growing claims that a team of Arab observers sent in late December to curb Syria's bloodshed has failed in its mission.

The Arab League's secretary general, Nabil El Araby, said yesterday that the organisation will reassess the work of its observer teams at a meeting on January 21.

"There is an overall reassessment of the work of the observer mission which we will discuss at the next ministerial meeting," Mr El Araby said during a visit to Oman. "There has been partial progress until now but there is daily bloodshed in Syria that the League aims to end," he added.

Mr El Araby said he met with the Omani minister for foreign affairs, Yussef bin Alawi, on efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria and protect its citizens.

Also yesterday, in a speech to mark a Shiite religious occasion, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hizbollah, said Turkey, Iran and other Arab countries should help to bring about an end to the crisis.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in the 10 months since the uprising began. The Syrian government has said more than 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed by terrorist groups.

In a speech last week addressing the crisis, Mr Al Assad said the government would use an "iron fist" against those responsible for what he says is a foreign-backed plot to divide the country.

Yesterday, a 17-year-old Lebanese national was killed in the Lebanon-Syria frontier area, after shots were fired from the Syrian side of the border, according to Lebanese officials.

It was not immediately clear who opened fire. The teenager is one of several Lebanese nationals to have been killed or injured in border areas in recent months. The northern frontier area of Wadi Khaled has become increasingly tense since the uprising against the Al Assad regime began. It is estimated that there are now more than 5,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who have sought shelter after their towns came under attack.

* With additional reporting by the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence-France Presse