CAIRO: Arab ministers will hold an urgent meeting on Saturday to discuss the bloodshed in Syria, an Arab League official said, but a delegate to the regional body played down the chances of foreign intervention. The United Nations says 2,200 people have been killed in Syria in a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad. "The Arab League Peace Committee will hold an urgent meeting on Saturday on the latest events in Syria and the League's secretariat is making calls to know the number of countries and the names of ministers to attend," the official said, asking not to be named. The official said the meeting would discuss imposing a timeframe for Syria's government to enact reforms and would end with a "demand for all parties to end the bloodbath". A statement issued by the Arab League on Wednesday confirmed that ministers would meet to discuss "the current Arab situation including the developments in Libya and Syria". "It is unlikely that there will be a decision on a no-fly zone or military intervention in Syria similar to what took place in Libya," said a permanent representative of an Arab state at the League who refused to give his name. There are "many restrictions in Syria that make the situation in Syria different from Libya", he said without elaborating. The Arab League backed the United Nations Security Council when it approved a no-fly zone over Libya in March. NATO saw the regional backing as vital for any military action to go ahead.
