Arab League warns of Syria slide into civil war

Syria may be sliding towards civil war, the head of the Arab League warned yesterday.

Nabil Elaraby said President Bashar al-Assad's regime was only partially complying with a plan Syria signed last month to end its crackdown on dissent. "We are very concerned because there were certain commitments that were not complied with," he said. "If this continues, it may turn into civil war."

Another reaction to the crisis came from the Emir of Qatar, who says that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop a deadly crackdown that has claimed the lives of thousands of people in the past ten months.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's comments to CBS's 60 Minutes programme in the United States, which will be aired tomorrow, are the first statements by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside Syria.

The United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad's rule began in March.

AP