Islamic body urges Syria to stop excessive force
The world’s largest Islamic body urged Syria on Wednesday to “immediately stop the use of excessive force” against its citizens to avert the threat of foreign intervention.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), told a news conference in the Red Sea City of Jeddah that foreign ministers attending an OIC meeting called on Damascus to quickly enter into a dialogue with its opponents and rejected foreign intervention in Syria.
“The executive committee (of the OIC) … urges the Syrian authorities to immediately stop using excessive force against citizens and to respect human rights,” a final statement said.
Syrian security forces have been using lethal force to crack down on demonstrations that began in March against 41 years of rule by Bashar al-Assad’s family. Assad says his forces are confronting saboteurs inspired by foreign powers.
Wednesday’s OIC meeting came after the Arab League suspended Syria and imposed sanctions over its violent crackdown on eight months of protests.
The League has demanded that Damascus allow a 500-strong monitoring mission into Syria.
A technical committee of the Arab League is scheduled to meet in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday to discuss and announce what sanctions will be imposed on Damascus.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem left after the end of the meeting on Wednesday without speaking to journalists.