Arab League To Vote On Sanctions Against Syria : NPR
The Arab League was set to vote Sunday on sweeping sanctions against Syria, as Damascus slammed the move as a betrayal of Arab solidarity.
Syria is facing mounting international pressure to end the bloody crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar Assad, which the U.N. says has killed more than 3,500 people since March. The European Union and the United States have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Assad and his regime, including a ban on the import of Syrian oil.
The 22-nation Arab League will vote Sunday on whether to impose its own sanctions, which could include halting cooperation with Syria’s central bank and stopping flights to the country. If the Arab League goes ahead with the sanctions, it will be a huge blow for a regime that considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.
The state-owned Al-Thawra newspaper ran a front-page headline Sunday saying the Arab League is calling for “economic and commercial sanctions targeting the Syrian people.”
The measure is “unprecedented and contradicts the rules of Arab cooperation,” the paper said.