Protesters pelted the Moroccan embassy in Damascus with eggs and stones on Wednesday, Morocco's ambassador said as his country hosted an Arab League meeting aimed at ending bloody unrest in Syria, amid another attack on the UAE embassy in Damascus.
Morocco's ambassador, Mohammed Khassasi, told Agence France Presse that more than 100 demonstrators had attacked the building and stripped it of its flag.
Full StoryTurkey and members of the Arab League called Wednesday for "urgent measures" to protect Syrian civilians from violent repression by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement issued after a Turkish-Arab cooperation forum in the Moroccan capital Rabat, they also declared they were "against all foreign intervention in Syria."
Full StoryFrance has recalled its ambassador to Syria, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday, after its diplomatic missions there were attacked amid ongoing protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"There has been renewed violence in Syria, which has led me to close our consular offices in Aleppo and in Latakia, as well as our cultural institutes and to recall our ambassador to Paris," Juppe told parliament.
Full StoryThe March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the Lebanese government’s position at the Arab League meeting on Saturday, describing its opposition to the suspension of Syria’s membership as “shameful.”
It demanded in a statement after its weekly meeting the resignation of the government “in order to maintain the interests of the Lebanese people and their ties with Syria.”
Full StorySyrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime will be isolated by the Arab world if it does not halt the deadly crackdown on its own people, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday.
"The cost for the Syrian administration of not fulfilling the promises it made to the Arab League is its isolation in the Arab world as well," Davutoglu said at a meeting with Arab League foreign ministers.
Full StoryThe March 14-led opposition attended a question and answer session at parliament on Wednesday in its continued effort to call into task the cabinet over its decision on Syria.
The MPs included Assem Araji, Mohammed al-Hajjar, Ahmed Fatfat, and Ghazi Youssef.
Full StoryFour days after Lebanon voted against an Arab League decision to suspend Syria’s membership, the role that Premier Najib Miqati played in that decision was still unclear.
Diplomatic and ministerial sources said in remarks to several dailies on Wednesday that Miqati told Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah during a phone conversation that Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour “violated his instructions” and voted against the Arab League measure.
Full StoryPrime Minister Najib Miqati reiterated Tuesday that “the stance recently taken by Lebanon at the Arab foreign ministers meeting on Syria is aimed first and last at protecting domestic stability in Lebanon.”
During a cabinet session he headed at the Grand Serail, Miqati stressed that “Lebanon will remain interactive with its Arab surrounding and part of the Arab world,” noting that “Lebanon’s vote at the Arab League stemmed from historical and geographic considerations that take into consideration the Lebanese sensitivities of which our Arab brother are aware.”
Full StorySyria on Tuesday released from jail more than 1,000 prisoners who had been involved in anti-regime protests, state-run television said, amid reports that a top dissident, Kamal Labwani who was jailed for 12 years in May 2007, was also freed.
"1,180 prisoners who had been involved in the incidents in Syria and who did not have blood on their hands were released today," the state broadcaster said in a news flash.
Full StoryTotal said Tuesday the Syrian government has stopped paying for oil the French energy giant produces in the country, which is the target of a European Union ban on oil exports.
"We are no longer being paid," a Total spokesman said, confirming media reports. He said the company had since late September "slightly" reduced its production in Syria but was continuing to produce oil and gas there.
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