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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/halt-bloody-repression-arabs-tell-syria-041710199.html
Arab leaders have given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad three days to halt his "bloody repression" of protests or risk sanctions, but activists said security forces shot dead a nine-year-old girl on Thursday.
The youngster was killed during a search operation in the town of Subkhan, in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received in Nicosia.
Her death came after at least 23 people were killed in violence on Wednesday even as Arab foreign ministers met in Morocco to discuss further sanctions against the Assad regime after suspending Syria's membership of the Arab League last weekend.
Warning that their patience was running out, the ministers gave Damascus "three days to stop the bloody repression", Qatar's prime minister said.
"But if Damascus does not agree to cooperate with the League, sanctions will be adopted against Syria," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani told a news conference.
Arab states had "almost reached the end of the line" with Damascus, he said.
"The Syrian government must agree to Arab League decisions and stop the bloodbath in Syria," he warned.
Wednesday's talks in Morocco were also joined by Syria's powerful neighbour, Turkey, a onetime ally of the Assad regime that has become one of its most outspoken critics.
"The cost for the Syrian administration of not fulfilling the promises it made to the Arab League is its isolation in the Arab world as well," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Arab counterparts.
"It is not possible for any administration to win the fight against its own people."
Wednesday's meetings came after army defectors attacked a military intelligence base outside Damascus in one of the most spectacular raids in eight months of unrest.
The unprecedented movement against Assad's rule had been spearheaded by peaceful demonstrators but, in recent months, deserters have organised themselves into a Free Syrian Army that has inflicted growing losses on the regular armed forces.
The rebel group announced on Wednesday that it was forming a temporary military council to "bring down the current regime, protect Syrian civilians from its oppression, protect private and public property and prevent chaos and acts of revenge when it falls."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was "not surprising" that the opposition was resorting to violence.
"We don't condone it in any way, shape or form but... it's the brutal tactics of Assad and his regime in dealing with what began as a non-violent movement (that) is now taking Syria down a very dangerous path," he said.
"We think that this kind of violence... it really plays into Assad's and his regime's hands when this becomes violent," the spokesman warned.
In Damascus, pro-Assad protesters attacked the Moroccan and UAE embassies on Wednesday, officials said.
Ambassador Mohammed Khassasi told AFP between 100 and 150 demonstrators pelted the Moroccan embassy with eggs and stones and stripped it of its flag, angry at Rabat's hosting of Arab meetings that proved so critical of the Assad regime.
Morocco later recalled its ambassador from Damascus "to protest against a system that fails to renew itself," Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri said.
"The regime of Bashar al-Assad does not seem to listen, notably to outside efforts including those by the Arab League to settle the problem of violence."
The violent protests came despite a pledge by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad to Arab ambassadors on Tuesday that there would be no repetition of the attacks on embassies.
On Thursday, Syria said it had issued a warning to its citizens that they would be arrested and prosecuted if they took part in further attacks.
"The interior ministry will take all necessary measures, including the arrest and trial, of any person seeking to attack diplomatic missions," the state news agency SANA reported.
The UN Security Council, badly divided over the Syria crisis, united on Tuesday to condemn attacks on diplomatic missions.
China, along with Russia, vetoed a Western-drafted resolution on October 4 that would have threatened Assad's regime with "targeted measures" if it continued its deadly crackdown on protesters which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people.
But in a sign of Damascus's fast-growing isolation, Beijing said on Thursday that it was "highly concerned" by developments.
"We hope that all relevant parties will work together to accelerate the implementation of the resolution scheme reached between the Arab League and Syria and seek to resolve the Syrian crisis through political means," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
It was left to close Damascus ally Moscow to speak out in defence of the regime, criticising the Arab League for not taking a strong line against violence by the opposition.
"For the realisation of the Arab League initiative, we propose that all the states that are concerned about the peaceful resolution of the events in Syria call not only on the Syrian authorities to stop violence but also all opposition groups, without exception," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
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Arab leaders have given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad three days to halt his "bloody repression" of protests or risk sanctions, but activists said security forces shot dead a nine-year-old girl on Thursday.
The youngster was killed during a search operation in the town of Subkhan, in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received in Nicosia.
Her death came after at least 23 people were killed in violence on Wednesday even as Arab foreign ministers met in Morocco to discuss further sanctions against the Assad regime after suspending Syria's membership of the Arab League last weekend.
Warning that their patience was running out, the ministers gave Damascus "three days to stop the bloody repression", Qatar's prime minister said.
"But if Damascus does not agree to cooperate with the League, sanctions will be adopted against Syria," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani told a news conference.
Arab states had "almost reached the end of the line" with Damascus, he said.
"The Syrian government must agree to Arab League decisions and stop the bloodbath in Syria," he warned.
Wednesday's talks in Morocco were also joined by Syria's powerful neighbour, Turkey, a onetime ally of the Assad regime that has become one of its most outspoken critics.
"The cost for the Syrian administration of not fulfilling the promises it made to the Arab League is its isolation in the Arab world as well," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Arab counterparts.
"It is not possible for any administration to win the fight against its own people."
Wednesday's meetings came after army defectors attacked a military intelligence base outside Damascus in one of the most spectacular raids in eight months of unrest.
The unprecedented movement against Assad's rule had been spearheaded by peaceful demonstrators but, in recent months, deserters have organised themselves into a Free Syrian Army that has inflicted growing losses on the regular armed forces.
The rebel group announced on Wednesday that it was forming a temporary military council to "bring down the current regime, protect Syrian civilians from its oppression, protect private and public property and prevent chaos and acts of revenge when it falls."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was "not surprising" that the opposition was resorting to violence.
"We don't condone it in any way, shape or form but... it's the brutal tactics of Assad and his regime in dealing with what began as a non-violent movement (that) is now taking Syria down a very dangerous path," he said.
"We think that this kind of violence... it really plays into Assad's and his regime's hands when this becomes violent," the spokesman warned.
In Damascus, pro-Assad protesters attacked the Moroccan and UAE embassies on Wednesday, officials said.
Ambassador Mohammed Khassasi told AFP between 100 and 150 demonstrators pelted the Moroccan embassy with eggs and stones and stripped it of its flag, angry at Rabat's hosting of Arab meetings that proved so critical of the Assad regime.
Morocco later recalled its ambassador from Damascus "to protest against a system that fails to renew itself," Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri said.
"The regime of Bashar al-Assad does not seem to listen, notably to outside efforts including those by the Arab League to settle the problem of violence."
The violent protests came despite a pledge by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad to Arab ambassadors on Tuesday that there would be no repetition of the attacks on embassies.
On Thursday, Syria said it had issued a warning to its citizens that they would be arrested and prosecuted if they took part in further attacks.
"The interior ministry will take all necessary measures, including the arrest and trial, of any person seeking to attack diplomatic missions," the state news agency SANA reported.
The UN Security Council, badly divided over the Syria crisis, united on Tuesday to condemn attacks on diplomatic missions.
China, along with Russia, vetoed a Western-drafted resolution on October 4 that would have threatened Assad's regime with "targeted measures" if it continued its deadly crackdown on protesters which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people.
But in a sign of Damascus's fast-growing isolation, Beijing said on Thursday that it was "highly concerned" by developments.
"We hope that all relevant parties will work together to accelerate the implementation of the resolution scheme reached between the Arab League and Syria and seek to resolve the Syrian crisis through political means," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
It was left to close Damascus ally Moscow to speak out in defence of the regime, criticising the Arab League for not taking a strong line against violence by the opposition.
"For the realisation of the Arab League initiative, we propose that all the states that are concerned about the peaceful resolution of the events in Syria call not only on the Syrian authorities to stop violence but also all opposition groups, without exception," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
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