AL approved new sanctions against Syria
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Xinhua, December 4, 2011
The Arab League (AL) on Saturday approved new sanctions against high-ranking Syrian officials following a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)'s resolution Friday.
The bans were in response to human rights violations in Damascus' alleged cracking down on anti-government protesters.
On Saturday, the AL ministerial committee gathered in the Qatari capital of Doha to review recommendations by its technical committee tasked with working out the final details of the sanctions on Syria.
The committee approved a travel ban for high-ranking Syrian officials including Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat and a freeze of their assets, the Qatar news agency QNA reported.
It also decided to suspend the AL's cooperation with Syria's central bank, halting funding for projects in the country.
Also at the meeting, the ministers imposed an arms embargo on Syria and decided to reduce flights between Syria and other Arab countries by half starting Dec. 15.
Moreover, they asked Arab Red Crescent societies to draw up an emergency plan to meet the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people.
The committee said as President Bashar al-Assad had repeatedly ignored the AL's initiative to end the violence, it gave Damascus until Sunday to sign the initiative to end the violence.
Earlier on Friday, the UNHRC adopted a new resolution condemning human rights violations by the Syrian authorities to crack down on anti-government protesters.
According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, 4,000 people have died since the unrest broke out in the country in March. She warned that there might be a civil war in Syria.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry dismissed the resolution as "politically motivated," and "prepared in advance by parties hostile to Syria," according to a statement reported by the state-run news agency SANA.
In a speech during the UNHRC special session, Syrian envoy Fayssal al-Hamwi criticized the council as being the pawn of those countries that seek to use it to escalate the crisis in Syria.
"It was clear since the beginning of the crisis in Syria that some of the countries sponsoring such futile sessions are ignoring all the work being done by the Syrian government, as well as ignoring the acts of armed terrorist groups," he said.
A Syrian Foreign Ministry official Saturday also slammed the resolution as "outrageous" and politicized by parties that aim to incite terrorism.
The resolution was characterized by blatant politicization by pre-designed circuits that targeted Syria for its resistance against foreign intervention and its opposition to Zionist and Western projects in the Arab region, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Deeply concerned about the instability in Syria, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Washington is running out of patience with al-Assad, who is threatening to "fan the flames" of sectarian conflict not only in Syria but beyond.
He made this remark while meeting Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Ankara Friday. The U.S. vice president also said al-Assad and his regime are "the source of instability in Syria."
Biden said the main objective is to get the Syrian regime to stop killing civilians and urged the president to resign.
"Syria's stability is important. That is exactly why we are insisting on change -- it is the current situation that is unstable," he said, calling for a peaceful transition in Syria and broader global sanctions over the crackdown.
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