DUBAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Arabs will not agree to
foreign military intervention in Syria, Omani Foreign Minister
Yousef bin Alawi said in an interview broadcast on Friday,
stressing that the only way to end the crisis was through an
Arab League peace plan.
Earlier the Arab League chief said he and the Qatari prime
minister would present a peace plan to end Syria's crackdown on
months of anti-government protests to ambassadors at the U.N.
Security Council in New York early next week.
"The Arab League will not allow foreign military
intervention in Syria. This is non-negotiable," Bin Alawi told
Al Arabiya television.
"The Arab League is the only channel that can convince both
sides to end this crisis based on a solution they both agree
on... The aim of the Arab League is to get Syria out of this
crisis through an Arab plan and mechanism."
The Arab League's latest proposal mirrors an initiative by
the Gulf Cooperative Council's (GCC) for Yemen, envisaging
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad handing power to a deputy and
setting up a unity government as a prelude to early
parliamentary and presidential elections.
But Alawi, whose country is a member of the wealthy
six-member bloc, comprised of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, said the two plans
would not be identical.
"We in the GCC think that the Gulf initiative that was
suggested for Yemen's crisis ended in success. But Syria's
problems are not the same as those in Yemen," he said.
"In Yemen, the legitimate opposition and the government were
working towards a solution. But in Syria, we find the opposition
fractured and not searching for a solution. We find the Syrian
government, although it is cooperating with the Arab League...
does not accept several of the League's decisions."
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said on Thursday
the meeting with the U.N. Security Council members would be held
on Monday and that he would depart for New York on Saturday.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani heads
the League committee charged with following the Syria file.
(Reporting By Nour Merza; editing by Sami Aboudi)
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