Arab League Denounces Violence in Syria

The Arab League’s ministerial committee sent an urgent message to the Syrian government denouncing the violence towards civilians. The committee said in a statement it had “expressed the hope that the Syrian government would take action to protect civilians”. The message comes after 40 people were killed on Friday when Syrian security forces fired into anti-government demonstrations, marking the deadliest demonstrations since May.

In response to the statement, the Syrian foreign ministry said the committee had “based its decision on the lies spread by television channels.” The ministry noted that Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem would “inform the committee tomorrow of the true situation in Syria.” This comes as more violence erupted in Homs, where eyewitnesses have stated the military attacked a residential district using tanks and heavy machine guns.

Ambassador Robert Ford met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday to give an update on the situation in Syria, in which State Department Spokeperson Victoria Nuland commented on the situation by saying “the violence needs to end, that the heavy weapons need to be pulled out of the cities, that the arrest and the torture and the brutality needs to come to an end, that political prisoners have to be released, and that human rights monitors, including from the Arab world, should be allowed in. The violence continues and Syria does not appear to be listening.” Reports have emerged that Turkey is sheltering members of the the Free Syrian Army, including the commander, allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border.