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    November 12, 2011

Arab League Considers Action Against Syria

   VOA News
   Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby (L) and Qatari Foreign
   Minister Hamad bin Jassim (C) confer at the Arab Foreign Ministers
   emergency meeting on Syria, at Arab League Headquarters in Cairo,
   November 12, 2011. Photo: Reuters
   Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby (L) and Qatari Foreign
   Minister Hamad bin Jassim (C) confer at the Arab Foreign Ministers
   emergency meeting on Syria, at Arab League Headquarters in Cairo,
   November 12, 2011.

   The Arab League has begun an emergency meeting in Cairo to consider
   possible action against Syria, where a violent government crackdown on
   dissent is believed to have resulted in more than 3,000 deaths.
   Protesters gathered outside of the league's headquarters on Saturday
   and urged ministers to suspend Syria's membership.
   Human Rights Watch and opposition activists made a similar plea on
   Friday.
   The French news agency says before the meeting started, a league
   official, Khaled al-Habbas, said Syria's situation was "complex" and
   that Arab League ministers were trying to reconcile different
   viewpoints.
   An agreement that the Arab League brokered with Syria earlier this
   month appears to have failed. The plan called for Syria to remove its
   forces from the streets, begin talks with the opposition and release
   political prisoners.
   On Friday, activists said Syrian security forces killed 26 more people
   in the government's ongoing crackdown.
   The U.N. human rights office says at least 3,500 people have been
   killed in the country since protests against Syrian President Bashar
   al-Assad began in March.
   Syria has blamed much of the deadly violence on "terrorists" and
   gunmen.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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References

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