Arab League to discuss suspending Syria

AP , Sunday 16 Oct 2011

Arab foreign ministers to meet in Cairo as Assad regime shows no sign of ending its violent suppression of pro-democracy protests that has killed over 3,000 people since January

Syria
In this file Arab league chief Nabil el-Arabi meets with Syria president Bashar Al-Assad (AP: file photo)

Arab League officials say Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting to discuss whether to suspend Syria from the organisation to pressure Damascus to end the deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

The officials say Sunday's meeting in Cairo comes in response to the Syrian government's failure to stop killing protesters.

Several Gulf countries requested the meeting. Many of the Gulf states have pulled their ambassadors out of Syria to protest the regime's crackdown, which the UN says has killed more than 3,000 people.

One official says the Arab League will consider other measures if suspending Syria fails to prompt the regime to stop the bloodshed. He declined to elaborate.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

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