Arab League Proposes Sanctions Against Syria

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(11/26/11)


(Syria)- Finance ministers from the Arab League have proposed economic sanctions against the Syrian government for its involvement in a bloody, months-long crackdown on civilian demonstrators. Arab League foreign ministers will meet in Cairo to consider whether to adopt the proposition on Sunday. Damascus failed to respond to an Arab League request to allow observers into Syria to monitor the government's response to civil unrest. State-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) has called the move an "unprecedented procedure (that) contradicts the rules of the economic and trade cooperation among the Arab countries and targets the Syrian people."

The sanctions proposed in Cairo, opposed by Algeria and Iraq, includes the barring of any private or commercial flights from the league's 22 member states from flying into or out of Syria. Also, all assests belonging to the Syrian government and its officials would be frozen and unaccessible and Syrian officials would be prohibited from visiting Arab League countries.

According to an activist group, Local Coordination Committees of Syria, another 29 civilians were killed on Saturday. Protesters have been demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad and requesting democratic elections. The United Nations estimates 3,500 Syrians have died in subsequent government crackdown, including "children who have suffered torture and mutilation while detained." The United Nations Committee Against Torture has asked Syria to provide a special report by early March indicating it is abiding by the obligations under the UN Convention against Torture.


Reliability: 6.5

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