Heads of States of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (source: presstv.ir)

Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani said on Friday that all six Arab Gulf states will close their embassies in Syria in protest at the year-long unrest in the country. The Gulf nations include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. Meanwhile, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton wants the bloc’s 27 member states to withdraw their ambassadors from Syria. A senior EU source said that the EU foreign ministerial meeting, which is to open next week with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attending for the first time, will focus on possible closures of the EU embassies in Syria. The move will be part of new sanctions that the West wants to pressure on Damascus before the UN renews efforts against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.