Arab League Holds 'Frank' Talks with Assad

An Arab League team held "frank" talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday at the start of a bid to mediate with the opposition.

"The meeting with President Assad was frank and friendly and we are going to continue our talks on October 30," said Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.

"We took note of the commitment of the Syrian government to work with the Arab committee to reach a solution."

Headed by Qatar, the League's current chair, the delegation comprises the foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Oman and Sudan, in addition to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.

Faced with a tough mission, Arabi has said he hopes "the Syrian regime will agree to this initiative, and begin with genuine reforms," in comments to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.

"It is my prerogative as secretary general of the Arab League to meet with any member of the peaceful opposition," said Arabi, referring to a "disagreement" with Damascus after he met members of the Syrian opposition.

At an emergency session in Cairo on October 16, the 22-member League called for "national dialogue" between the government and opposition by the end of October to help end the violence and avoid "foreign intervention" in Syria.

Syria's representative to the 22-member Arab League, Youssef Ahmed, slammed what he said was a "conspiracy" against Assad's regime at the Cairo meeting.

But the initiative has also been opposed by the opposition.

"Arabs, do not get more involved in the bloodshed against us," said the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a coalition representing some 40 opposition blocs.

"We will not accept anything less than Bashar al-Assad's resignation and his trial," they said.

The Syrian opposition called a nationwide general strike in protest against the regime's crackdown on protest that has left at least 3,000 people dead since mid-March, according to U.N. figures.

The leading opposition group, the Syrian National Council, urged "all categories of people to go on strike" on Wednesday ahead of the launch of massive campaign of civil disobedience.

"The strike is an expression of the desire to pursue a peaceful campaign until victory," an NSC statement said, adding that a strike had been observed in Daraa, cradle of the protests, for the past six days.