A group of Egyptian intellectuals and civil society organisations are appealing to the Arab League and the Foreign Ministry of Egypt to act to stop bloodshed in Syria.
Two open letters addressed respectively to both Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi demanded a firm show of solidarity with the Syrian people.
"Egypt must show solidarity with the Syrian cause, by endorsing the Syrian people's quest for freedom and democracy," read the letter sent to the foreign minister. It pointed out, "We must remember that this is the same legitimate impulse as our demands that echoed from Tahrir Square".
"Since the 15th March 2011, over 800 peaceful demonstrators have been killed and 9,000 arrested in 16 Syrian cities. The lack of running water and electricity in towns such as Derra and Homs has left innocent civilians, including many women and children, without essential basic services," read the letter addressed to Moussa.
The letter went on, "the humanitarian situation is worsening day by day. As the suffering increases, the communications blackout imposed since 22nd April continues to prevent the Syrian people from calling for help."
The two letters demanded measures to protect Syrian civilians, support for their right to freedom of expression and strong condemnation for the Syrian government’s violence against civilians.
The letters also demand the deployment of a fact-finding mission to report on the extent of the bloodshed to which innocent civilian demonstrators had been subjected.
Meanwhile, a source at the Arab League told Ahram Online that the extraordinary Arab foreign ministers’ meeting that opened today at 5pm Cairo Local Time would issue a statement demanding the respect of the right of all Arab peoples to exercise freedom of expression without being subject to political and security persecution.
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