Opening the meeting, the League's Secretary General, Nabil al-Arabi, said the failure of international diplomacy had put a special responsibility on the league.

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Al-Quds Al-Arabi welcomed the BBC's decision to take Mr Kilroy-Silk's morning TV talk show off the air pending an investigation of his comments.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | Arab media attack 'racist' Kilroy

Speaking to the BBC, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi reiterated that the league had not called for the arming of the Syrian opposition.

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In a separate development on Monday, the chief of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, said UN efforts to help resolve the Syrian crisis had faltered.

BBC: Syria crisis: Suicide bomb 'kills dozens' in Hama province

"Contacts made by the special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi have so far not yielded a flicker of hope to put this crisis on the exit track, " Mr al-Arabi said on Monday at an economic summit in Saudi Arabia.

BBC: Syria crisis: Suicide bomb 'kills dozens' in Hama province