The Arab League has voted to suspend Syria from all meetings until Damascus ends its bloody crackdown against anti-government protesters. Eighteen countries supported the move while Lebanon, Yemen and Syria voted against it and Iraq abstained. The suspension will come into effect on November 16, according to the Qatari Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim. The vote came during an emergency session to discuss Syria’s failure to end a bloody government crackdown on opposition protests. Qatar’s foreign minister has called on the Syrian army to stop the violence against civilians. In turn, Syria’s representative to the Arab League, Youssef Ahmed, said the decision to suspend Damascus violated the organization’s charter and showed it was “serving a Western and American agenda,” reports Reuters. Ahmed told Syrian state television that the move to suspend Syria would only have been valid if taken by consensus at a summit meeting of Arab leaders, whereas it was in fact opposed by two delegates at the Arab League meeting. The League has also warned Syria that it could face sanctions if it fails to end the violence. However, Bin Jassim stressed that “no-one is talking about a no-fly zone — people are trying to mix up the cases. None of us is talking about this kind of decision.” In February, the LAS suspended Libya’s membership and went on to propose the enforcement of a no-fly zone over the country. Michel Chossudovsky, the Director of the Centre for Research on …
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Episode 5: “The Final Frontier” profiles the league’s final year, 1969, including the contentious debate on post-merger league realignment, Joe Namath’s near-retirement, and innovations like the West Coast Offense and stack defense that found their origins in the AFL. With the respectability it long sought now secure, the league ends on a high note with Hank Stram’s Kansas City Chiefs soundly defeating Minnesota in Super Bowl IV All rights to this video are the exclusive property of the National Football League NFL
Video Rating: 5 / 5
