The explosions in the heart of Syria were an attempt to force the Syrian regime to clamp down on protesters before the very eyes of the Arab League Observers, who are just beginning their peacekeeping mission, journalist Ibrahim Alloush told RT.

­“This kind of thing, especially so close to the security centers of the Mukhabarat, of the intelligence services in downtown Damascus, is going to cause the Syrian regime to clamp down hard on armed insurgents, thus complicating the mission of the Arab monitors,” Alloush said. “So I think this was very well-calculated by the opposition to sabotage the mission of the Arab monitors. Of course, whoever has done this is serving the agenda of the insurgents, regardless of name, whether they are Al-Qaeda or not.”

Alloush says that having invited a team of Arab League observers, and accepted all of the clauses of the initiative, the Syrian regime has put itself into a very tricky situation that could easily backfire. Arab League observers will have to go into the areas where the violent clashes are taking place, putting their lives at significant risk.

“As the Syrian regime has said, it is not responsible for the safety of the Arab monitors if they go into such areas,” Alloush explained. “On the other hand, the Arab League is saying – and so is the international community – that the Syrian regime should be held responsible for the safety of the Arab monitors.”

That is why Alloush believes that the Arab League’s initiative is not going to succeed, and never was in the first place.

“I think it was meant to fail from the start,” he said. “The Syrian regime is just trying to show that when it fails, it’s not going to be the one held responsible; it’s not going to be the culprit for the failure of the Arab initiative.”