Arab League asks for Hamas help with Syria
By REUTERS
LAST UPDATED: 01/06/2012 14:41
Elaraby asks Mashaal to deliver message to Syria to "work with integrity, transparency and credibility to halt the violence."
Hamas leader Mashaal (L), Arab League chief Elarab Photo: Reuters
The
head of the Arab League said on Friday he had asked the Damascus-based
leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas to ask the Syrian government to
work to halt violence in the country.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby was speaking alongside Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal after a meeting in Cairo.
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gave him a message today to the Syrian authorities that it is necessary
to work with integrity, transparency and credibility to halt the
violence that is happening in Syria," he said.
Earlier Friday, a
suicide bomber in Syria's capital Damascus killed 25 people and wounded
46 others, local news station Addounia said.
The bomber blew
himself up at a traffic light, according to state television. Footage
broadcast by Syria Television also showed the shattered blood splattered
windows of what appeared to be a police bus.
Forces
loyal to President Bashar Assad injured at least three protesters on
Friday when they fired at hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators who
had gathered at mosque in a Damascus district where a major security
headquarters is located, a witness said.
The witness, who lives
in the area, told Reuters by phone that Pro-Assad militiamen, known as
shabbiha, and secret police agents hit the protesters with automatic
rifle fire after they defied the heavy security presence and refused to
leave the Abdel Karim al-Rifai mosque in Kfar Souseh neighborhood.
Syria
bars most independent journalists from the country, making first-hand
reporting impossible. There was no immediate comment from the
authorities.At least 44 people were killed last month by what the Syrian authorities
said were two suicide bombings against security buildings in the Syrian
capital.Syria has been racked for 10 months by an uprising against President
Bashar Assad in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people
have been killed. The government says armed "terrorists" have killed
2,000 members of the security forces.