Merkel pledges Syria sanctions
February 14, 2012
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday said the EU would be imposing fresh sanctions against the Syrian regime.
Shortly before beginning a meeting with the head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, in Berlin, Merkel praised the Arab group for taking a "firm stance" on the Syrian issue.
"The European Union supports this stance, and we will also reinforce it with further sanctions," Merkel said.
The Arab League, which recently sent a team of monitors to Syria to observe the ongoing uprising, has been particularly critical of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Most recently, the group suggested that a joint Arab League and UN peacekeeping force should be deployed in the troubled country to try to stop the bloodshed.
At the same meeting on Sunday, the group announced a "halt to all kinds of diplomatic cooperation with representatives of the Syrian regime in all states and organizations and international conferences," though it added that its member states would introduce such measures individually.
Al-Arabi also spoke with reporters in Berlin before meeting with Merkel, demanding simply that "the killing must stop." The former foreign minister of Egypt said a "wind of change" had swept through the Arab region, and reasserted the importance of protecting human rights in Arab countries.
Al-Arabi has headed the Arab League, which comprises 21 member countries and Palestinian representation, since May 2011.
msh/cmk (dpa, Reuters)