Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi to visit Syria

Nabil al-Arabi will try to negotiate an end to the crisis in Syria, the Arab League says

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi is to visit Syria to try to resolve the crisis in the country.

The announcement of the visit followed a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Ministers also called on the Syrian government to stop the violence and to usher in reforms.
The UN says more than 2,000 people have been killed since protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March.
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Cairo says the league is increasing pressure on Damascus but has not suspended Syria from the group, as it did with Libya earlier this year.
A statement said ministers "asked the secretary-general of the Arab League to carry out an urgent mission to Damascus and transmit the Arab initiative to resolve the crisis to the Syrian leadership".
Ministers also called for "respect [for] the right of the Syrian people to live in security and... their legitimate aspirations for political and social reforms".
The league said Syria's stability was crucial to the whole region.
Earlier, Syrian activists said security forces had attacked protesters at a mosque in the capital.
Security officials stormed the al-Rifai mosque in the Kafar Susseh district, the activists said, reportedly wounding the mosque's imam.
A video shot at the mosque shows protesters chanting "the people demand an end to the regime", and calling for the execution of President Assad.
As security forces stormed the mosque, protesters tried to barricade themselves in with bookcases and shoe racks, reports say.
The imam, Osama al-Rifai, who is in his 80s, is said to have been beaten up.
Most foreign journalists have been barred from Syria, making it difficult to verify reports from local activists and officials.