“We cannot accept this killing machine. We cannot allow people to be killed this way,” he told a news conference at the end of a regular meeting in Cairo of the pan-Arab body, of which Syria is a member.
“The army must withdraw from inside the cities so that we can start talking about a dialogue between the people and the government,” he said.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said: “There are those who cast doubt on some of the intentions” of the Arab League, insisting however, that “everyone supports Syria and its stability”.
Earlier he read a statement at the end of a meeting of the 22-member bloc’s foreign ministers calling for an “immediate” end to the bloodshed in Syria, where the UN says some 2,600 people have been killed since mid-March.
“There must be an immediate change that leads to an end to the bloodshed and protection of the Syrian people from more violence and killings,” said the statement read out by the chair of the meeting, HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim.
“The Syrian leadership must take urgent steps to implement the measures it agreed upon during the visit of the secretary general,” it said referring to a peace bid by Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.
Arabi met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday to discuss a 13-point document outlining Arab proposals to broker an end to the bloodshed, hold elections and push for reforms in the troubled country.
Afterwards Arabi said there had been an agreement with the Syrian leader “on steps to carry out the reforms, (and) the elements will be submitted to the council of the Arab League”.
Yesterday, Arabi said Assad had agreed to receive an Arab League delegation to follow-up on the agreement struck at the weekend.
“But the Arab foreign ministers believe that there must be a ceasefire (in Syria) before the departure of the delegation,” he said at a joint news conference with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim.
The Arab League statement said the situation in Syria “is still very dangerous” and renewed the bloc’s “deep concern over the pursuit of violence and the deaths and injury of large numbers of civilians.”
The League, it said, discussed yesterday how it could help Syria resolve the crisis “in such a way to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people, guarantee Syria’s security, stability and territorial integrity and prevent foreign intervention”.
Qatar News Agency adds:
HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, who is also the chairman of the 136th session of the Arab League Council’s Ministerial meeting, affirmed that a comprehensive, just and lasting peace would not be achieved until Israel fully withdrew from the occupied Arab territories based on the borders of June 4, 1967, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He called upon the international community to stop the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and lifting the “unjust” siege clamped on the Gaza strip and take a strong position forcing Israel to adhere to the resolutions of international legitimacy.
He expressed his thanks and gratitude to the nations that recognised Palestine as a state enjoying sovereignty over the borders of June 4,1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He also called for support to Palestine’s bid for UN membership and urged all Palestinian political groups to apply the national reconciliation accord signed in Cairo on May 4, speeding up the formation of a Palestinian national government.
He added that this year’s ministerial meeting was held amidst new local, regional and international circumstances facing the Arab nations. He said the most prominent of these circumstances was the developments in the Palestinian issue, particularly the stumbling of the Middle East peace process and Israel’s continuation of building settlements in East Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories.
He noted that the Arab people had become increasingly aware of the need to reform and realising social justice via stepping up interaction and interrelation, which “makes it imperative on all of us to set up and open all channels of positive dialogue which serve the needs of the people and avoid political tension and congestion through launching the required reform process”.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said: “In this concern, we express profound sorrow and regret to the events which the brotherly Arab Republic of Syria sustains … Henceforth we affirm our due keenness to maintain security, stability and unity of Syria and view that the solution lies in stopping the use of weapon, putting an end to bloodshed and resorting to wisdom and dialogue… the matter which requires the full application of the initiative adopted by the Arab League Council during its extraordinary session held in Cairo on August 28.”
He said: “We express our deep concern at the continuing situation in sisterly Yemen and therefore we call upon all parties concerned to adhere to self -restraint to keep Yemen away from more violence calling upon all parties there to jointly act for creating the adequate circumstances to realise the aspirations of the Yemeni people to reform and dignified life.”
