OIC asks Assad to relent

Heads of state at the world’s largest Islamic bloc on Wednesday were set to approve the suspension of conflict-wracked Syria. A resolution drafted for the summit demands that President Bashar Al Assad’s regime “immediately end all acts of violence” without calling for the president to step down, while defending Syria’s “unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.” An emergency summit of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) opened late Tuesday with the proposal put forward by a preparatory meeting of foreign ministers, a symbolic attempt to pile pressure on Damascus over its deadly crackdown on a 17-month uprising. An OIC draft final statement said the group “approves the suspension of Syria’s membership.” It says Syria should be suspended over “the obstinacy of the Syrian authorities in following the military option” to solve the crisis. From: Arabsnews