Syria is moving toward more violence and killings, which many fear may lead to a civil war, particularly if the Syrian regime procrastinates on the proposal of the Arab League for Syrian President Basher Al-Assad to step down and usher in a transition of power. The Arab League delegation tasked to monitor the developments in the troubled country and to oversee the transition of power from the current regime to the people has been allowed to enter Syria but the government seems to be reluctant to implement the Arab League resolution. The United Nations expressed on Saturday its “grave concern” over the escalation of violence in Syria and urged the government to “fully and speedily” implement the Arab League plan. The Arab League monitors were supposed to meet the Syrian regime's top diplomats on Saturday, a day after suicide bombers killed 44 people in attacks in Damascus which the government blames on the Al-Qaeda but which the opposition said were the regime's work. It seems that the regime is buying time in the hope that it can convince the world that the country will fall into the hands of Al-Qaeda and to sway the sympathy of the international community to support it. This will complicate the crisis and make the task of the Arab observers' more difficult. The gambit will hardly work and the violence is expected to escalate as the regime, which seems bent on holding on to power at all cost, muddles the whole issue. The world cannot just stand as a fence-sitter while the Syrians are being killed. The regime will be made to answer for all the killings, despite its efforts to raise a smokescreen by putting the blame on Al-Qaeda for the carnage. History is catching up with the Syrian regime. It is futile to stop the march of change in the Syrian political landscape, which has been dominated by the authoritarian regime for more than 50 years. If the regime does not cooperate with the Arab League, which is trying to offer the best solution to the crisis, it will soon pay a heavy price for its unrealistic maneuvering, procrastination and for buying time that it knows will not work. The regime must come to its senses that it cannot hold on to power forever. The time has come for it to accept that winds of changes in the country can no longer be stopped and that it is time for it to hand over power to the people for the sake of peace in the country and in the region. __
