Syrian: Bashar al-Assad criticises Arab League as peace monitors come under attack "The Arab League denounces the irresponsible action and acts of violence against the league's observers," he said last night. Other Arab and Western leaders also reacted with criticism. "There is no doubt that the task of the monitors is getting more difficult every day because we do not see a decline in acts of killings," said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister. Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said Mr Assad was "divorced from reality" and accused him of inciting violence. After its intervention against Col Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, the Syrian uprising has created a second crisis in a year for the Arab League. Before Tuesday it had been criticised for failing to act more decisively against the Assad regime. However, that did not prevent Mr Assad from being hostile towards the league as he accused it of decades of failure. In his speech at Damascus University, Mr Assad suggested Arab states had become stooges for a Western-led conspiracy to undermine Syria's sovereignty. "After they failed at the [UN] Security Council, because they failed to convince the world, they had to create an Arab platform to promote their lies," he said. Despite a 10-month uprising in which thousands have died, Mr Assad engaged only marginally yesterday with accusations by human rights groups, Western nations, his Arab and Turkish neighbours and United Nations officials of abuses by his forces. He denied he had ordered soldiers to fire on civilians, though he admitted they had been authorised to use force in certain circumstances. Instead he promised, as he has done since the uprising began last March, that politics would become more "inclusive," and said there would be a referendum on constitutional change in March. He also warned that he would not give in to the "mongrels" trying to bring him down. The style of Mr Assad's speech mirrored that of the late Libyan leader. In 105 rambling minutes, he insisted his regime remained popular but was facing a foreign-funded, media-backed assault. More than 6,000 people have died, mainly protesters but also soldiers and members of the armed opposition. The rate of killing has increased since November, but the Arab League claimed on Sunday the bloodshed had been calmed by its presence over the past two weeks. Activists said 13 more died on Tuesday, including 10 unarmed protesters in the town of Deir al-Zour. The opposition condemned Mr Assad's words. "Such a speech is quite indicative of the total dismissal by the regime of the international community," said Basma Qadmani, of the Syrian National Council.