Arab League gears up for FM meeting

The Arab League is wrapping up its preparations for hosting a high-profile extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday. The meeting will tackle the Syrian civil war amid efforts by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to drum up support for the so-called "Geneva 2" peace talks, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Arabi said. Asked about the date of the conference amid pre-conditions made by the Syrian government and the opposition for their participation, El-Arabi said the date of the conference will be set in the light of a Tuesday meeting between Brahimi and US, Russian and UN officials in Geneva. The meeting, to be held in the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, will tackle the outcome of Brahimi's visit to different countries in the region and preparations for the Geneva II Conference. The US and Russia have been pushing for those talks to take place next month. Syria's rebels and opposition groups have yet to commit to any talks. More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011 while millions more have been forced to flee their homes.