Syria Crisis: Arab League Calls For United Nations To Deploy Peacekeepers

Syria Crisis: Arab League Calls For United Nations To Deploy Peacekeepers

The Arab League has called on the United Nations to join it in deploying peacekeepers in Syria, amid concerns about rising levels of violence in the country.

On Saturday leaders from the region met in Cairo to discuss the deepening crisis in Syria which has seen scores left dead as the regime battles against an opposition movement.

According to the BBC, the statement issued by the League on Sunday afternoon said it would: "ask the UN Security Council to issue a decision on the formation of a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping force to oversee the implementation of a ceasefire".

And Reuters reports that the resolution said violence against civilians in Syria had violated international law and "perpetrators deserve punishment."

Last weekend Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution designed to increase pressure on the Syrian regime, a move that was widely condemned by Western governments.

The UN General Assembly is due to discuss the uprising on Monday, where it will be addressed by the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal was quoted by the Associated Press before the Cairo summit as saying the time had come to take action.

"Until when will we remain spectators?" he said. "It is a disgrace for us as Muslims and Arabs to accept" the bloodshed in Syria, he said.

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