European Forum

Arab League holds an emergency meeting on Syria

On 2 November the Arab League holds an emergency meeting in Cairo on Syria as the situation in the country deteriorates.

Yesterday (November 1) Bashar al-Assad government announced its intention to end seven month of unrest in the country and start a dialogue with the Arab League. The announcement followed the meeting of the Arab League ministers with Syrian officials in Qatar on Sunday (October 31) at which the organization urged that Syria halt the bloodshed, withdraw the tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets, and immediately release political prisoners.

In spite of that, 13 factory workers were reportedly killed today by the Syrian security forces in the village of Kfar Laha, according to pro-democracy activists. The village, situated in the Houla region, is considered a center of protests against Syrian authoritarian regime. It is suspected that the attack on the villagers was a revenge attack after the incident on Tuesday (November 1), in which nine pro-government supporters were killed by assailants in the western province of Homs.

The Syrian revolts, which commenced in early March with the aim of ousting President Bashar al-Assad and were met with overwhelming military force, have reached the death toll of more than 3,000,  according to United Nations human rights office.

Souces: Aljazeera. Image: Flickr.