Morocco withdraws observers from Syria mission

Members of the Moroccan delegation participating in the Arab League observer mission left Syria, following Rabat's decision to pull out its observers from the mission. Moroccan Abdelkader Ozarie, the delegation membe, said in a press release "I believe that the Moroccan delegation left after achieving its mission within the framework of the Arab league with full responsibility and seriousness, despite all the difficulties and problems." "We will follow up the situation in the region as we always have, and our country will take the proper decisions at the right time. We will leave so that the Arab League will work on reviewing its plan, as it freezes the mission to consider new mechanisms,” he added. The Arab League decided to halt the work of its observer mission in Syria owing to what it called "the critical deterioration of the situation", due to the clashes that took place between the security forces and rebels controlling three suburbs outside the capital, Damascus. In a relevant context, "Arab foreign ministers are expected to meet early next February in order to discuss the possibility of withdrawing the observer mission from Syria," according to an official of the Arab League.