Top Islamic Body Urges Syria to Cooperate with Arab League

Foreign ministers of the world's largest Muslim body urged Syria on Wednesday to cooperate with the Arab League, which imposed unprecedented sanctions on Damascus over its crackdown on months of protests.

Ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to "respond to the decisions of the Arab League," according to a statement released at the end of emergency talks on Syria.

The OIC also urged Damascus to "immediately stop using excessive force against civilians ... to spare the country the danger of internationalizing the crisis," it added.

The statement, issued after the meeting that was attended by the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, urged "all parties in Syria to renounce violence and resort to peaceful means."

OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, speaking after the meeting, said the group "urged Syria to stop violating human rights and to allow Islamic and international human organizations access to Syria."

The meeting was also attended by Ali Akbar Salehi, the foreign minister of Iran which is a key regional ally of the regime in Damascus.

Earlier, Ihsanoglu reiterated the Jeddah-based group's rejection of any moves "to internationalize the crisis."

"We also refuse any military intervention and affirm our respect to Syria and its sovereignty ... and welcome international and Arab efforts" to reach a solution, he said.

But the OIC chief expressed frustration at the lack of any breakthrough to end the violence since March that the United Nations says killed more than 3,500 people, mostly civilians, in its first eight months.

"We have exhausted all our mechanisms and powers in our attempt to bridge the gap and end bloodshed" in Syria, he said.

The Arab League approved on Sunday sweeping sanctions against Assad's government over the crackdown -- the first time that bloc has enforced punitive measures of such magnitude on one of its own members.

Measures include an immediate ban on transactions with Damascus and its central bank and a freeze on Syrian government assets in Arab countries.

They also bar Syrian officials from visiting Arab countries and call for a suspension of all flights to Arab states to be implemented on a date to be set next week.

The vote on sanctions came after Damascus defied an ultimatum to accept observers under an Arab League peace plan and put an end to the eight-month crackdown.