Bashar al Assad's regime is increasingly isolated. THE Muslim countries, meeting at an extraordinary summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, have Syria suspended by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The only vote against came from Iran.
The final communiqué of the summit states that the member countries of the OIC have agreed on the "need to immediately stop the acts of violence in Syria and to suspend" Damascus from the organisation. The summit said it was "strongly concerned about the massacres and inhumane acts suffered by the Syrian people".
In the press conference, the secretary general of the OIC, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, explained that the purpose of this decision is to launch "a strong message addressed by the Muslim world to the Syrian regime", because "this world can no longer accept a regime that massacres its people using planes, tanks and heavy artillery". However, the meeting "did not support an external military intervention" in Syria.
The OIC is an international organization with a permanent delegation to the United Nations. It represents 57 countries spread across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Its purpose is to safeguard the interests and development of Muslim populations around the world.
Meanwhile, the UN has released the final report of its commission of inquiry about the war in Syria. The text reads that Syrian government forces and militias loyal to the Shabiha regime have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Same charge even for the rebels, but in this case the violations “do not reach the gravity, frequency and intensity”.
On the international front, former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab said in his first public appearance after fleeing to Jordan that the Assad regime controls only 30% of Syria. The Chinese government, who with Russia has blocked possible actions by the Security Council against Syria, will receive an adviser to Assad, expected in Beijing in the evening, but has specified that he is also evaluating whether to invite representatives of the opposition.
The divisions between the great powers and the regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia have hindered diplomatic attempts to end 17 months of conflict in Syria, where according to opposition sources there are now 18 dead. In the last few hours the clashes have concentrated near Aleppo: At least 30 people were killed in an airstrike by Syrian forces on the northern city of Azaz, anti-regime activists said.
Today Valerie Amos, coordinator of the UN emergency agency, landed in Syria to try to facilitate rescue operations.
