Arab League votes to suspend Syria if it doesn’t end violence against protesters
Jack Shenker and Peter Beaumont, The Observer:
Syria has been told it will be suspended from the Arab League – and faces the threat of sanctions in the Arab world – if it does not agree to end its bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters. The vote in Cairo took place after Syria had failed to abide by an agreement negotiated by the Arab League to end violence against its people, instead continuing with assaults on opposition centres.
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Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al Thani, said 18 countries had agreed to the suspension, which will take effect on Wednesday. Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against it, and Iraq abstained. The Arab League will also introduce political and economic sanctions against Syria.
For reference, there have only been two suspensions in the sixty-five year history of the Arab League: Egypt during the ’70s and ’80s and Libya earlier this year.