Gulf Arab states on Thursday had called for an immediate meeting of Arab League states to discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria and study ways "to stop the bloodshed and the machine of violence," the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said in a statement.
Security forces killed seven people in Dael, a woman and a boy in the flashpoint town of Deraa, both in southern Syria, two in and around Damascus and another on the outskirts of Aleppo, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said by telephone.
The United Nations top human rights official called Friday for international action to protect Syria's civilians, saying its "ruthless repression" of anti-government protesters could drive the country into full-blown civil war.
The death toll in the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that began in March against President Bashar Assad now exceeds 3,000, including at least 187 children, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
