Aya Batrawy: Arab League Votes to Suspend Syria Over Killings

In a surprisingly sharp move, the Arab League voted Saturday to suspend Syria over the country's bloody crackdown on an eight-month uprising, and stepped up calls on the army to stop killing civilians. The decision was a humiliating blow to a regime that prides itself as a bastion of Arab nationalism, but it was unlikely to immediately end a wave of violence that the UN estimates has killed more than 3,500 people since mid-March. "Syria is a dear country for all of us, and it pains us to make this decision, Qatar's Foreign Minister Hamid bin Jassim told reporters. "We hope there will be a brave move from Syria to stop the violence and begin a real dialogue toward real reform." In Damascus, pro-regime demonstrators threw eggs and tomatoes at the Qatari Embassy to protest the vote. The 22-member Arab League will monitor the situation, and revisit the decision in a meeting Wednesday in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, bin Jassim said, a move that appeared to give Syrian President Bashar Assad time to avert the suspension, but Syria has been unwilling to heed previous calls to end the violence. Saturday's vote came after Damascus failed to carry out a November 2 peace deal brokered by the Arab League, that called on Syria to halt the attacks, and pull the tanks out of cities.