Dubai: Syria's membership in the Cairo-based Arab League may be frozen because of the regime's crackdown on protesters, Al Arabiya television reported on Saturday, citing officials.
Syrian forces continued with their crackdown on countrywide protests on Friday even as a human rights group accused the regime of “crimes against humanity” and called for the suspension of the country from the Arab League.
At least 14 people were killed in Friday's violence, most of them in the restive city of Homs, reports said.
Human Rights Watch, in a report, said Syrian forces have tortured and killed civilians in Homs in an assault that indicates crimes against humanity. The group has urged the Arab League to suspend Syria’s membership.
“Homs is a microcosm of the Syrian government’s brutality,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
The League, meanwhile, held talks ahead of Saturday's meeting, during which Syria’s envoy to the League Yousuf Ahmad submitted a memorandum, the official Sana news agency said.
"The people want [Syria's] membership to be suspended," shouted a crowd at a rally in the Deir Baalba district of Homs, appealing to the 22-member Arab League to act against Damascus during the Cairo meeting.
"Proud Homs!" they shouted, waving the green, white and black flag used by Syria before the ruling Baath Party seized power nearly 50 years ago.
One banner in the southern Hauran plane reflected the religious element behind some of the protests: "There is no god but God. Assad is the enemy of God," it read.
"Has the Arab League initiative stopped our blood from flowing?" read another at the protest in Deir Baalba.
Arabs divided
Arab states remain widely divided over how to deal with Syria's crackdown on protesters after the League's peace deal failed to stem violence, and there is little likelihood a meeting today will bridge the gap.
Several countries oppose bringing serious pressure to bear on Al Assad and it looks unlikely that foreign ministers will freeze Syria's membership at the Cairo meeting, officials due to attend say.
In Syria, Foreign Minister Walid Mua'alem said on Thursday authorities were adhering to the plan, under which Syria pledged to pull the military out of restive cities, set political prisoners free and start talks with the opposition.
If Arab states isolated Syria, that would help Al Assad's sternest critics in the West gain a broader consensus for tougher sanctions and, perhaps, some form of intervention. The US and European Union have imposed sanctions on Syria's oil industry and several state businesses, forcing Damascus to curb oil production. The unrest has also prompted depositors to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from Syrian banks.
Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Total have slashed production in Syria.
