Arab FMs to meet Sunday on Syria crisis

Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed bin Heli said the meeting had been brought forward based on a request by Arab countries and consultations by Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi with both Egypt (current chair of the Arab League Council) and Libya (the incoming council chair). According to bin Heli, Arab delegates will convene before the ministerial meeting in order to set the meeting's agenda, which will include several issues concerning joint Arab action. Sunday's meeting will tackle developments in Syria, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and other issues, bin Heli said. Meanwhile, a high-level source in the Arab League Secretariat-General denied that the pan-Arab body had endorsed a proposed US military strike against Syria. Al-Arabi, the source added, has stressed the necessity of taking the issue before the UN Security Council before taking any decision.  A final decision will be taken during the league's upcoming foreign ministers' meeting, the source said, adding that an earlier league decision prohibited foreign military intervention in Syria "without the approval of the Security Council." The United States and its western allies are reportedly preparing for a military strike against Syrian targets over the alleged use of chemical weapons by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Last week's poison gas attack in the Ghouta region near Syrian capital Damascus reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children. A Syrian opposition umbrella organization has blamed the attack on Syrian regime forces, a claim that Damascus strongly denies.