Qatrari PM announces second meeting between Syrian president

Visiting Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, who heads an Arab League (AL) ministerial committee, announced Wednesday that the second meeting between Syrian leadership and the committee would be held Sunday. After a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Jassim said at a press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Waild al- Moallem "the ministerial committee's meeting with al-Assad was clear and friendly. We will continue our meeting on Oct. 30," the official SANA news agency reported. "We feel Syrian government's keenness to work with our committee," said Jassim. Earlier in the day, the Syrian president held a meeting in the Syrian capital of Damascus with the AL ministerial delegation, which seeks to end violence in Syria. SANA reported that the meeting was "positive." The AL ministerial committee, including foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Oman, Algeria, Sudan and the AL chief Nabil al-Arabi, arrived in Damascus Wednesday to discuss ways of ending the seven- month-long crisis through dialogue between Syrian government and the opposition. At an emergency meeting held in Egypt's capital of Cairo on Oct. 16, the AL decided to give Syria a 15-day deadline to enact a cease-fire and agreed to form a committee led by Qatar with representatives from Algeria, Sudan, Oman and Egypt, and the AL chief Arabi to supervise the situation in Syria. Moreover, the Arab foreign ministers called for a national dialogue between Syrian authorities and the opposition. According to the Arab initiative, solutions to end the crisis in Syria include initiating dialogue between Syrian government and the opposition, releasing political detainees and demonstrators, forming a national unity government led by an acceptable figure, as well as holding parliamentary elections by 2014. More than 3,000 people including army and security members have been killed in the turmoil in Syria, according to figures released by the United Nations.