CAIRO- Meeting in Cairo, Arab League ministers adds to international calls for President al-Assad to end the bloodshed.
In a joint statement, the League's 22 foreign ministers urge "immediate change, ending the bloodshed and safeguarding the Syrian people from any further violence and killing." The statement was read at the end of today's meetings by Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, the current Arab League Chair.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said he had agreed a series of measures with President al-Assad on Saturday after a brief visit to Damascus, and would present them to the foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo, called to discuss Syria and other Arab issues.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said on Tuesday that Syria stop its "killing machine" and pull its army out of cities, in remarks at the end of an Arab League meeting.
"We cannot accept this killing machine. We cannot allow people to be killed this way," he told a news conference at the end of a regular meeting in Cairo of the pan-Arab body, of which Syria is a member.
"The army must withdraw from inside the cities so that we can start talking about a dialogue between the people and the government," which has launched a deadly crackdown against dissent since mid-March, he said.
In turn, Egypt added to growing criticism of the crackdown by fellow Arab nations. “The solution must be through negotiations and dialogue,” Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said in an interview with Egyptian state television.
Arab League states want Syria to use dialogue, not arms, to address a six-month-old uprising that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad`s regime has been trying to crush with tanks and troops, the League's head said on Tuesday.
Later on Tuesday, Syrian dissident spokeswoman Basma Qadmani announced the opposition would on Thursday present a list of candidates for a “National Council” similar to the one formed in Libya, according to AFP.