Saudi Arabia Urges 'Critical Measures' on Syria

Saudi Arabia on Monday called for "critical measures" to be taken on Syria, warning of an impending "humanitarian disaster" after the U.N. Security Council failed to pass a resolution on the crisis there.

"The U.N. Security Council's failure to pass a resolution in support of the Arab Initiative must not prevent the taking of critical measures to protect innocent lives and stop the bloodshed and all acts of violence that threaten serious consequences for the Syrian people and regional stability," a cabinet statement said.

Riyadh "appeals to the international community not to stop exerting sincere efforts to find a solution to this crisis that has killed hundreds of Syrians and threatens to cause a humanitarian disaster if it continues," said the statement carried by state news agency SPA.

Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, on Saturday vetoed a U.N. resolution condemning Syria for its deadly crackdown on protests, drawing condemnation from other global powers.

The Saudi government statement came as Oman's foreign minister said foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will meet in Riyadh later this week to discuss developments in Syria.

The meeting, on the eve of an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Sunday, is expected to focus on "the situation after the failure of the U.N." to adopt the Security Council resolution supporting a League plan to end the crisis, Youssef bin Alawi told Agence France Presse.

The Arab League, which suspended an observer mission in Syria because of an upsurge in the violence there, is due to meet in the Egyptian capital on Sunday.

Thirteen countries voted on Saturday for the U.N. resolution to end the crackdown in Syria, where activists say at least 6,000 people have been killed since the protests against Assad's regime erupted in mid-March last year.