Arab Ministerial Committee meeting kicks off in Doha

The Arab ministerial committee tasked with addressing the Syrian crisis kicked off its meeting Sunday in Doha in the presence of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem.    

The meeting includes the committee’s ministers who went last Wednesday to the Syrian capital in a bid to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in a bid to finda solution to the violence in Syria and to lay the groundwork for dialogue between the authorities and opposition.    

Anti-Syrian regime protesters called for staging a demonstration on Sunday to ask for the suspension of Syria’s membership to the Arab League.     

The protesters posted their appeal on their Facebook page against Syrian President Bashar Assad, calling for a “Freeze Membership Sunday” under the banner of “stop supporting murderers”.    

 The Local Coordination Committees said Sunday that 343 people, including 20 children, have been killed in Syria since Oct. 16, when the Cairo-based Arab League gave Damascus a 15-day deadline to enact a cease-fire.    

The LCC added that security forces killed seven people Sunday, three of them in Homs, two in the southern province of Daraa, another in the central region of Hama and one in Idlib. The observatory said at least two people were killed Sunday, one in Homs and another in Idlib     

In case of international intervention, Assad and his main Mideast backer, Iran, could launch retaliatory attacks on Israel or more likely unleash Hezbollah fighters or Palestinian militant allies to do the job. To the north, Turkey has opened its doors to anti-Assad activists and breakaway military rebels, which also could bring Syrian reprisals.