Arabs step up pressure on Syria
Arab foreign ministers meet anew yesterday to step up pressure on Syria to end nearly eight months of deadly violence, as 16 more civilians were reportedly killed in the country.
Hours before the gathering was due to start at 1400 GMT in the Arab League's Cairo headquarters, the country's largest opposition group urged the pan-Arab body to freeze Syria's membership in the organisation.
The meeting is being held to hear Syria's response to an Arab roadmap calling for an immediate halt to the bloodletting, the removal of tanks from the streets and the start of a dialogue between the Damascus regime and its opponents.
Syrian state media reported late Tuesday that Damascus and the Arab League had agreed on the proposals, and that an announcement would be made yesterday in Cairo.
But Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli later told Al-Arabiya television that a response had still not been received.
On Tuesday, an Arab League diplomat told AFP in Cairo that "there has been agreement on some minor amendments."
But some diplomats in Cairo have expressed concern the response from Damascus will be tied to conditions to gain time.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is under mounting world pressure to end the violence and implement wide-ranging political reforms to meet the aspirations of protesters who have rallied almost daily since mid-March.
The Arab proposal is aimed at ending a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters which the United Nations says has claimed more than 3,000 lives, mostly civilians.
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