Saudi, 14, November, 2011-(Berberanews)– After months of silence, King Abdullah, the Saudi monarch and the region’s most powerful king, set the tone by issuing a statement denouncing the Syrian government’s cruel authoritarianism as “unacceptable.”
More than 3,500 people have died in Syria since unrest broke out in mid-March, according to the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait announced that they are recalling their envoy to Damascus. The European Union also announced it was considering extending its sanctions against individuals in the Assad regime, while Germany threatened to declare the president had lost his legitimacy to rule.
The Saudi King said that “The kingdom does not accept the situation in Syria, because the developments cannot be justified.”
Syrian security forces killed more than 50 people on Sunday as Protesters in that country continue demanding al-Assad’s ouster and true democratic elections. Al-Assad has been in power since 2000; his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for three decades.
The league’s foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday to discuss protecting Syrian civilians. The Arab league also plans to meet in the coming days with representatives of the Syrian opposition to “unify their agenda,” said an official. A date for the meeting has not yet been announced.
