VIENNA - A senior Saudi prince said that Arab states would not allow "the continued massacre" of the Syrian people, while saying he believed President Bashar al-Assad was unlikely to step down voluntarily. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria have stalled, with Assad rejecting a peace plan offered in early November by the Arab League. Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, seen as influential though no longer holding public office, told a conference in Vienna the 22-state Arab League was "not going to sit back and allow the continued massacre of the Syrian people". "Sanctions have been imposed. I think more measures will be undertaken in the near future," he said. That Arab League plan calls for government forces to be withdrawn to barracks and Arab observers to be allowed into Syria. Asked whether there was any chance Saudi Arabia could help broker a possible power transfer deal as it did with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Turki said: "I do not think so because Ali Abdullah Saleh, while delaying and playing for time...he in the end signed the deal. "Getting Bashar al-Assad to sign on a deal has been the difficulty. The Arab League, the world community ... has offered Bashar al-Assad an opportunity to undertake a way out, if you like. He has refused and it is a pity because it means more bloodshed." The United Nations says at least 4,000 people have been killed in Assad's crackdown on protests.
