Arab ministers head to Syria for mediation talks
13:51 26/10/2011 MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - An Arab delegation will meet with Syrian officials in Damascus later on Wednesday in an attempt to launch dialogue between President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition, the Al Arabiya website said.
Led by Qatar, the delegation includes Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, as well as the foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Oman and Sudan.
During an urgent session in Cairo on October 16, the 22-member Arab League urged the Syrian authorities and opposition leaders to immediately end violence and begin “national dialogue” to avoid “foreign intervention” in Syria.
International pressure on the Assad regime has mounted after months of violent crackdown against protesters. The European and U.S. leaders have called on the Syrian president to step down as the death toll from the unrest, which began in March, has reached 3,000, according to UN estimates.
Hundreds of thousands of Assad supporters meanwhile staged on Wednesday a demonstration in the center of Damascus, calling for national unity and reforms, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene.
Demonstrators waved Syrian as well as Russian and Chinese flags in a sign of gratitude to Moscow and China for vetoing a UN draft resolution threatening Assad with “targeted measures” if he does not stop violence and implement the promised reforms.
Russia and China blocked the Western-backed draft resolution on October 4, saying that it could lead to a repeat of the “Libyan scenario” in Syria.
The Syrian opposition called on Wednesday for a nationwide general strike in response to the regime’s crackdown on protesters, Al Arabiya said.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
