Arab bloc seeks joint UN force for Syria

The Arab League will call on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution creating a joint peacekeeping force for Syria.

According to a draft resolution to be adopted by Arab League foreign ministers who met in Cairo yesterday, the 22-member group will also call for an immediate ceasefire.

It demands that regime forces lift the siege on neighbourhoods and villages and pull troops and their heavy weapons back to their barracks. Syria is unlikely to accept a joint UN-Arab League peacekeeping force.