Syria: Qatar calls for Arab force to impose peace

Syria: Qatar calls for Arab force to impose peace .(Guardian).The Syrian Revolution Co-ordinators Union has named 66 people it says were killed today. The Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria says 51 people were killed. These figures cannot be independently verified. Syrian security forces lined up and shot dead at least 18 people in a village in central Syria today, including seven members of the same family, according to activists quoted by Reuters.
The international Friends of Syria conference has reportedly been criticised by the head of the Syrian National Council. Burhan Ghalioun was at the meeting in Tunis today to represent the Syrian opposition, but Reuters reported him as saying the conference had met the ambitions of the Syrian people.
The Saudi delegation walked out of the conference, complaining of inaction.
The European Union plans to freeze the assets of the Syrian Central Bank from Monday 27 February. French foreign minister Alain Juppé made the announcement at the Friends of Syria conference in Tunis. "On Monday we will take strong new measures, notably freezing the assets of the Syrian Central Bank," Juppe told delegates.

Meanwhile the State Department is quietly warning region on Syrian WMDs.(FP).This week, the State Department sent a diplomatic demarche to Syria's neighbors Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, warning them about the possibility of Syria's WMDs crossing their borders and offering U.S. government help in dealing with the problem, three Obama administration officials confirmed to The Cable. For concerned parties both inside and outside the U.S. government, the demarche signifies that the United States is increasingly developing plans to deal with the dangers of a post-Assad Syria -- while simultaneously highlighting the lack of planning for how to directly bring about Assad's downfall.
Syria is believed to have a substantial chemical weapons program, which includes mustard gas and sophisticated nerve agents, such as sarin gas, as well as biological weapons. Syria has also refused IAEA requests to make available facilities that were part of its nuclear weapons program and may still be in operation.
Today, in response to inquiries from The Cable, a State Department official offered the following statement:"The U.S. and our allies are monitoring Syria's chemical weapons stockpile. These weapons' presence in Syria undermines peace and security in the Middle East, and we have long called on the Syrian government to destroy its chemicals weapons arsenal and join the Chemical Weapons Convention," the State Department official said. "We believe Syria's chemical weapons stockpile remains under Syrian government control, and we will continue to work closely with like-minded countries to prevent proliferation of Syria's chemical weapons program."
The demarche made four specific points, according to other U.S. officials who offered a fuller account to The Cable. It communicated the U.S. government's recognition that there is a highly active chemical warfare program in Syria, which is complemented by ballistic-missile delivery capability. It further emphasized that that any potential political transition in Syria could raise serious questions about the regime's control over proliferation-sensitive material.
Third, the State Department wanted Syria's neighbors to know that should the Assad regime fall, the security of its WMD stockpile -- as well as its control over conventional weapons like MANPADS (shoulder-fired rocket launchers) -- could come into question and could pose a serious threat to regional security. Lastly, the demarche emphasized that the U.S. government stands ready to support neighboring countries to provide border-related security cooperation.
Concern about a gap in planning for how to oust the Assad regime is shared by some in Congress, including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who issued a statement today urging the administration to start directly aiding the Syrian rebels and protecting Syrian civilians."Unfortunately, speeches and meetings by themselves will do nothing to stop the unacceptable slaughter in Syria, which is growing worse by the day," the senators said. "We remain deeply concerned that our international diplomacy risks becoming divorced from the reality on the ground in Syria, which is now an armed conflict between Assad's forces and the people of Syria who are struggling to defend themselves against indiscriminate attacks."Read the full story here.