Dubai: Bahrain and Qatar on Sunday called on
their citizens to leave unrest-swept Syria after the United
Arab Emirates also advised its citizens to stay away.
The call, issued on the day the Arab League was deciding
on sanctions against Damascus over its deadly crackdown on
dissent, was issued because of instability in Syria, said
Bahrain's foreign ministry.
In Doha, the foreign ministry urged Qataris to leave
Syria "as soon as possible," while Abu Dhabi earlier in the
week advised Emiratis to delay travel plans to Syria.
Arab states of the Gulf have been at the forefront of
calls to sanction Syria over its eight-month crackdown which
the United Nations says has killed more than 3,500 people.
The Qatari and Saudi embassies in Damascus have been
attacked during pro-regime demonstrations.
And Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens was killed last
Monday while visiting family in the restive city of Homs, in
central Syria.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 27, 2011, 22:37