Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Damascus for consultations, King Abdullah said on Sunday, in a statement calling on Syria's leaders to "stop the killing machine".
"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”.
"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 said.
Syrian security forces killed more than 50 people on Sunday, activists there said, as the regime defended its crackdown on "outlaws".
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 President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The Saudi King's statement came the day after the Gulf Cooperation Council urged Syria to "end the bloodshed" as the international pressure mounts.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 08, 2011, 08:43