Arab Foreign Ministers to Discuss Syria on Sunday
Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests, the official MENA news agency reported.
The agency cited the Arab League's deputy leader Ahmed Ben Helli as saying the meeting would be held at the request of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The oil-rich Gulf States in the council had called for the emergency Arab meeting to address the mounting bloodshed in Syria as Damascus shows no let-up in its deadly crackdown on protests.
They called the meeting to discuss "the situation in Syria, which has deteriorated sharply, particularly in its humanitarian dimensions, and steps that could help end the bloodshed and halt the machine of violence," according to their statement on Thursday.
Arab foreign ministers already met in Cairo on September 13 and called on the Syrian authorities to "immediately stop the bloodshed," drawing a testy response from Damascus.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi had met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad three days earlier and presented him with a 13-point document outlining Arab proposals for reform.
More than 3,000 civilians have been killed in Syria since mid-March, when nationwide protests erupted against Assad's regime, according to U.N. figures.
Source: Agence France Presse
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