The Arab League threw its support firmly behind the opposition mounting an uprising against Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad, and called for the UN Security Council to send troops to halt bloodshed. A resolution approved Sunday by Arab League ministers meeting in Cairo called for “opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it”. It also urged the Syrian opposition to unite. The resolution solidifies Assad's ostracism among his Arab neighbors and will add to diplomatic pressure on Russia and China, which vetoed UN action on Syria on Feb. 4, to lift their objections and allow the world body to act. It said violence against civilians in Syria had violated international law and that perpetrators deserved punishment. It scrapped an Arab League monitoring mission. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Saudi Foreign Minister, said: “How long will we stay as onlookers to what is happening to the brotherly Syrian people, and how much longer will we grant the Syrian regime one period after another so it can commit more massacres against its people?” “At our meeting today I call for decisive measures, after the failure of the half-solutions,” he said. “The Arab League should...open all channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and give all forms of support to it.” Syrian ambassador to the League as calling its decision “a flagrant departure from the group's charter and a hostile act that targets Syria's security and stability”. The Cairo meeting opened with the resignation of Muhammad Al-Dabi, Sudanese general who led an Arab League observer mission to Syria in December. Ministers from Gulf states, which have been leading the drive to isolate Assad, met separately earlier and discussed recognizing the opposition Syrian National Council as Syria's government. A Gulf source said they would propose Arab states each take such a step.
