The meeting will be held ahead of the Arab League meeting on Syria amid expectations the league will send its observer mission back to the country.
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Wednesday that Nabil Al-Arabi, Arab League secretary-general, had told him that of the plan to resend the observer mission and that he had called for a joint operation with the international body. "He informed me that he intends to send the Arab League observer mission back to Syria and asked for UN help," Ban Ki-moon said.
The failure of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime to respond positively to the international call to put an end to the bloody crackdown on protesters has pushed some Western countries as well as Gulf nations to recall their ambassadors from Damascus.
The Netherlands, France, Italy, and the Gulf states have stepped up their pressure on Syria when they have joined Britain and the United States in recalling their envoys from Damascus. The new measures added to the increased isolation that the Syrian regime is facing. The statement of the GCC reads: "The council considers that it is necessary for the Arab states...to take every decisive measure faced with this dangerous escalation against the Syrian people. Nearly a year into the crisis, there is no glint of hope of a solution."
After the Russia, seconded by China, vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Assad to give up some powers to allow for a peaceful end of the crisis, the international community as well as the Gulf countries were enraged.
Russia’s explanation that it was looking for a more balanced approach fell on deaf ears. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has described as a "travesty" Russia and China's veto of a UN resolution condemning Damascus’ brutal onslaught on the Syrian people.
The criticism of the Russian and Chinese position came from everywhere. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an considered what happened at the UN Security Council as a fiasco, pledging that his country would come up with a new initiative to halt violence. Turkey said that it would organize an international conference of regional and world powers while the EU is considering tough sanctions.
Over the last months, the Gulf countries led an Arab effort to convince Assad to put an end to his iron-fist policy and to opt for a peaceful exit. And yet, more than 6,000 people have been killed in Syria since last March. The Syrian regime is now facing much of the international community. Its ability to endure this pressure is on the decline.
Interestingly, the Gulf countries are not discouraged by the Russian and Chinese veto. For them, the failure at the UN could further embolden the regime in Syrian to continue its bloody crackdown on protestors. The Gulf countries are aware of this consequence and therefore they stepped up pressure on the Assad regime. A number one priority for the GCC is to avoid more civilian causalities, but this is easier said than done. It seems that the regime in Syria has reached a point of no return and only strong pressure can affect the outcome of what is going on in Syria.
The failure of all parties to agree on a framework for defusing the crisis and for enabling the Syrian people to decide on its future can boost the possibility of military intervention. “You're hearing more discussion of safe zones, buffer zones, humanitarian corridors and that's something that the Syrian opposition has requested," said Shadi Hamid, head of research at the Brookings Doha Centre.
In the coming few weeks, it will be clear as to what course of action the Arabs will adopt. While the Arabs do not have a military option for intervening in Syria, still it seems that a sort of intervention that could further emasculate the Syrian regime is likely. Equally important, analysts agree that little can take place without nothing short of genuine support for the Gulf countries.