NEGOTIATING

Arab League Offers Assad "Safe Exit"

If he’ll step down.

In an effort to end the violence that has raged across Syria for over a year, the Arab League’s secretary-general offered Bashar al-Assad, the country’s president, a “safe exit” if he steps down. The organization also offered $100 million for Syrian refugees who’ve had to flee to other countries. This isn’t the first such offer the despotic president has received. Back in February, the president of Tunisia offered Assad asylum in exchange for ending conflict in his country, but he refused, and just this weekend, his military continued to attack rebel areas in Damascus, showing no signs of quitting. In fact, in his first public statements since his top security officers (including his brother-in-law) were killed in a rebel bombing, Assad urged his new Army chief to “continue the armed forces’ pursuit of terrorists.”