Assad will fall, former Lebanese PM says

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad will fail even though he signed a deal to allow Arab observers into the country, said Lebanon's former prime minister.

Delegates from the Arab League are expected in Syria this week as part of an observer mission. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that despite the pledges, Assad's government would fail.

"He signed but he will fall," Hariri was quoted by Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star as saying.

Hariri leads the opposition March 14 alliance, which helped convince Syrian forces to leave Lebanon in 2005 after nearly 30 years of occupation.

Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and Saad Hariri's father, was assassinated in 2005. The U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon has said Syrian ally Hezbollah was behind the plot.

Lebanon abstained from U.N. resolutions on Syria. Beirut, however, has expressed concern over spillover from the Syrian conflict.

The United Nations estimates at least 5,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Syrian security forces since an uprising against Assad began mid-March.