Arab ministers call on Syria to halt violence

A draft of the recommendations by the top diplomats of the 22-member League, obtained by The Associated Press, reinforces earlier proposals by the organization for the end the one-year conflict in Syria, where the U.N. says more than 9,000 people have so far died.

Shiite-ruled Iraq is hosting the summit to show that it has emerged from years of turmoil and American occupation. But a massive security operation in Baghdad mirrors fears that Sunni militants could try and disrupt the meetings.

The draft proposals by the foreign ministers also call on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime to allow peaceful protests, immediately release Syrians detained during the past year and withdraw army troops from urban centers.

The Arab foreign ministers’ meeting comes a day after Assad accepted a cease-fire drawn up by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in a diplomatic breakthrough what was swiftly overshadowed by intense clashes between government soldiers and rebels near the border with Lebanon.

Opposition members accuse Assad of agreeing to Annan’s plan to stall for time as his troops make a renewed push to kill off bastions of dissent.

“We are not sure if it’s political maneuvering or a sincere act,” said Louay Safi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council. “We have no trust in the current regime. ... We have to see that they have stopped killing civilians.”

Annan’s plan calls on Damascus to immediately stop troop movements and use of heavy weapons in populated areas and to commit to a daily two-hour halt in fighting to allow humanitarian access and medical evacuations.

Gulf Arab nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been pushing behind the scenes for more assertive action to end the Syria conflict. Privately, they see little benefit in the Arab League’s efforts to reach a peaceful settlement and prefer instead to see a small core of nations pooling together to act on their own.

Among the options they are considering are arming the Syrian rebels and creating a safe haven for the opposition alongside the Turkish-Syrian border to serve as a humanitarian sphere or staging ground for anti-regime forces.

Their bullish approach has its roots in their hopes that by forcing Assad’s fall they can pull Sunni-majority Syria out of its alliance with Iran and break the belt of Tehran’s influence that stretches through Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean.

A Sunni-ruled Syria would give the U.S.-allied Gulf Arabs a significant victory in their long-running power struggle with non-Arab, mainly Shiite Iran. But that prospect worries Iraq, with its sectarian divides between a Shiite majority that now holds power and a Sunni minority that resents its sidelining.

Central Baghdad, where the summit is taking place, was virtually deserted on Wednesday, with hundreds of heavily armed troops and policemen deployed in full combat gear.

The summit venue is a palace once used by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It is located inside the “Green Zone,” a highly secure area on the west bank of the Tigris River where the prime minister’s office and the U.S. and the British embassies are also located.

The zone, which is normally heavily guarded, was teeming with security men on Wednesday and about 1,500 journalists covering the summit were carefully searched.