Arab League calls for swift action on Syria

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Arab League calls for swift action on Syria

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Arab League ministers call for swift Arab and international action to end bloodshed in Syria.

13 February,2012 01:46 pm

Arab ministers called on Sunday for swift Arab and international action to end bloodshed in Syria after Russia and China blocked a Western-backed Arab peace plan at the U.N. Security Council.The ministers met in Cairo to revive diplomatic efforts after the Arab initiative that called for President Bashar al-Assad to step aside was stalled by the double veto in New York.Qatari Foreign Minister and head of the leagues current minister rotation, Hamed Bin Jassim stressed on their commitment to seeing the observer mission through.League Chief, Nabil Elaraby told the ministers that a return to United Nations support must be with a guarantee.The Saudi minister criticized the Security Councils failure to back the Arab plan for Syria but did not name Russia and China.As part of Arab efforts, Tunisia said it would host the first meeting on Feb. 24 of a Friends of Syria contact group made up of Arab and other states and backed by Western powers.