An Arab summit of regional heads kicked off in Baghdad on Thursday with a strong focus on resolving the year-long Syrian crisis that the UN says has left at least 9,000 people dead.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Arab leaders to discuss a UN-backed peace plan for Syria, with regional leaders endorsing special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan that calls for a ceasefire and talks.
But Arab states remain sharply split over how to deal with the violence, with oil-rich Gulf monarchies Saudi Arabia and Qatar advocating a hardline approach to arm rebels, while Iraq, Algeria, and Egypt have warned against the move, instead pushing for political reconciliation.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari's confirmed Wednesday evening that the summit of the 22-member Arab League will steer clear of the strong moves advocated by Qatar and Saudi Arabia to resolve the Syria crisis.
"The Arab League initiative is clear and did not demand that Bashar step down," Zebari said after a ministerial meeting. "We (foreign ministers) also did not ask for that and the upcoming decision will not go in this direction."
It "is up to the people of Syria to decide, to choose, to elect their leaders. It's not up to the League or to anybody else," he said...
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/arab-leaders-endorse-annan-plan-syria