Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Aug.8 (ANI): Saudi Arabia has called on the Syrian leadership to "stop the killing machine" operations that it has launched against pro-democracy activists.
Reacting to fresh reports of over 250 Syrian tanks and armoured vehicles laying waste to the country's biggest eastern city, Riyadh recalled its ambassador from Damascus for consultations.
The Telegraph quoted Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, as criticizing the fresh offensive to crush dissent that left scores of people dead and raised fresh fears of a civil war.
"Saudi Arabia announces the recall of its ambassador for consultations," the king said in the statement released in Riyadh in which he urged Syria to "stop the killing machine and the bloodshed... before it is too late," King Abdullah said.
"The kingdom does not accept the situation in Syria, because the developments cannot be justified," the Saudi monarch said urging Damascus to introduce "comprehensive and quick reforms. The future of Syria lies between two options: either Syria chooses willingly to resort to reason, or face being swept into deep chaos, God forbid," he added.
Impervious to international condemnation, even as the Arab League spoke out for the first time, the Bashar el Assad regime has widened its Ramadan offensive against the increasingly emboldened protest movement seeking to overthrow him.
Activists said that at least 41 people were killed in Deir al-Zor, Syria's oil capital, after a vast column of tanks and armoured vehicles advanced on the city from four directions before dawn.
A further 19 people were killed in western Syria after tanks shelled the town of Hula in Homs province, bringing yesterday's death toll to at least 62.
The US envoy to Damascus, Robert Ford, who returned to Syria on Thursday, also said in a US television interview on Sunday that Washington will "try to ratchet up the pressure" on the Syrian regime. (ANI)
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