GCC Delays Syria Meeting to Sunday, Moves It to Cairo

Gulf foreign ministers have rescheduled their meeting on Syria to Sunday in Cairo, a Gulf Cooperation Council official said on Wednesday.

"The meeting which was set to take place in Riyadh on Saturday will now be held in Cairo on Sunday ahead of the Arab League ministerial meeting" in the Egyptian capital, the GCC official told Agence France Presse on the condition of anonymity.

Members of the six-nation GCC on Tuesday decided to recall their envoys from Damascus and expel Syrian ambassadors from their countries in protest at Syria's lethal crackdown on dissent.

Oman had said earlier this week that the GCC ministerial meeting would be held on Saturday in Riyadh.

The Arab League, which has suspended an observer mission in Syria because of the upsurge in the violence, was originally due to meet on Saturday but delayed the session to allow the Gulf states to convene beforehand.

The League has put forward a plan for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to his deputy and for the formation of a unity government ahead of polls.