Assad is urged to agree reforms

THE HEAD of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, met Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad yesterday to push for reforms and an end to bloodshed, even as activists said Assad’s forces killed six people in a continuing crackdown on dissent.

Five people were killed yesterday in Homs during a sweep by troops and security forces. A man was shot dead by security forces at a checkpoint in the northern province of Idlib.

Assad has responded to nearly six months of mass street protests, inspired by Arab uprisings that have overthrown three North African leaders, with a mix of repression and promises of reform that protesters have dismissed as too little too late.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said Elaraby told Assad the Arab League “rejected any form of foreign intervention in Syrian internal affairs” and that the two men agreed practical steps to speed up reforms in Syria.

Elaraby had originally been due to travel to Damascus on Wednesday, but Arab diplomats said Syria had requested a delay, reflecting its unease over any outside criticism or involvement.

Foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League told Syria two weeks ago to work to end the months of violence “and resort to reason before it’s too late”.

The Cairo-based organisation has been under pressure to speak out following the uprisings that ousted leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and led to the overthrow of Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.