Reuters Amonitoring mission to Syria that marks an unprecedented Arab intervention in a fellow Arab state may have just days to prove to skeptics it can be a credible witness to whether or not President Bashar Al-Assad has halted a crackdown on protests. The monitors, who began touring Syria on Tuesday, are the cornerstone of an Arab peace plan that Damascus must heed if it wants to avoid creating a new context for broader international involvement, Arab diplomats and regional analysts say. States in the 22-member Arab League who backed action to try to end nine-months of bloodshed in Syria want to prevent the country sliding into a civil war, destabilizing a region convulsed by violence and unrest. Arabs are also keen to avoid a rerun of Libya, where NATO air strikes helped oust long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, and instead show they can put their own house in order without the assistance or interference of Western powers. But a soaring death toll as Syria stalled over sending in monitors has encouraged skepticism about whether the League initiative can deliver an end to violence. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told Reuters last week that, once in place, monitors could determine in no more than a week whether Syria was adhering to a plan that calls for troops to be withdrawn from residential areas, freeing prisoners and the start of talks with the opposition. But critics say the monitors may well be hoodwinked by their Syrian hosts, who could clear cities ahead of their arrival before sending troops back in once monitors have gone. Those inside Syria, who have watched the blood-letting mount as the Arab diplomacy has lumbered on and seen the tanks open fire on residential areas, also doubt the monitoring mission will herald a change of tack by Assad's government. Though critics may have wanted faster and more determined action to halt the violence, the League initiative is a first and dramatic shift in approach by Arab states that began with Libya and the changes sweeping the region in the “Arab Spring”. The League has already suspended Syria and announced sweeping economic sanctions that Syria has acknowledged are impacting business and financial transactions. This is tougher action than the League has taken in the past. For decades, the pan-Arab body founded in 1945 avoided taking any action against a fellow Arab state. Its founding principles did not give it the teeth that, for example, the United Nations and UN Security Council has. Given this unprecedented step, some in Syria's opposition are ready to give the League's mission time to prove it can be a neutral witness, although they are clear that they expect the assessment to show the government crackdown has not abated. Based on reports from inside Syria, where foreign and independent media are broadly barred from operating, many analysts expect the monitoring mission to be a prelude to escalating the Syrian file beyond the League. Elaraby said the League was keeping the UN secretary-general regularly briefed about the plan. At the Security Council, stern action against Syria may still face resistance from China and Russia, although Moscow pushed Damascus to let in monitors. The West has also shown limited appetite to be dragged into a new Middle East conflict. But, if Syria fails to pull its troops back, pressure for international action could well mount. __
