The Arab League on Saturday suspended Syria until President Bashar al-Assad implements an Arab deal to end violence against protesters, and called for sanctions and transition talks with the opposition.
A statement, read by Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, said the League decided “to suspend Syrian delegations’ activities in Arab League meetings” as long as it stalls on the plan and to implement “economic and political sanctions against the Syrian government”. Syria angrily denounced the suspension as illegal and said it spelled the end of any Arab role in resolving the deadly anti-regime protests sweeping the country. The decision was “illegal and contrary to the treaty” that set up the pan-Arab organisation, said Syrian Ambassador Yussef Ahmad, quoted by Syrian official media. He said the moves “put an end to joint Arab action and show that the [League’s] administration is subjected to US and Western agendas”.
Apart from the suspension, which had been sought by the Syriann opposition, the League also called for the withdrawal of Arab ambassadors from Damascus but left the decision to each member state. Sheikh Hamad told a press conference the decision would take effect on November 16, and that Arab ministers would meet again to decide on specific sanctions. The statement also called for the protection of civilians and said Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi would contact international organisations concerned with human rights, “including the United Nations,” if the bloodshed continued.
It called for a meeting in Cairo with Syrian opposition groups in three days to “agree a unified vision for the coming transitional period in Syria”. The opposition would later meet with Arab foreign ministers. A week of deadly violence in the city of Homs overshadowed the meeting, in which ministers had appeared divided on what measure to take but eventually voted by majority on the final statement. On Saturday, three people were killed in clashes in the northwestern region of Idlib, near Turkey, after between 50 and 60 soldiers defected to the opposition, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
