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12 Nov, 2011

Syria suspended from Arab League

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An emergency session of 22 Arab League members in Cairo suspends Syria from the League until it implements the terms of a peace deal to stop government crackdowns on pro-democracy protests. The league also agree to impose economic and political sanctions and appeals to its member states to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus. 18 countries back the decision while Yemen, Lebanon and Syria vote against. Iraq abstains. Qatari prime minister:

Syria is a dear country for all of us and it pains us to make this decision. We hope there will be a brave move from Syria to stop the violence and begin a real dialogue toward real reform…We were criticised for taking a long time but this was out of our concern for Syria. We needed to have a majority to approve those decisions. We are calling all Syrian opposition parties to a meeting at the Arab League headquarters to agree a unified vision for the transitional period.

However he says the vote does not signal military intervention. He also calls on the Syrian army to stop its involvement in the killing of civilians.