DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The head of Syria's largest exile opposition group says he would welcome Arab military action aimed at ending attacks by Bashar Assad's regime against Syrian rebel forces and civilians. Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, made the comments on Saturday before a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers. The envoys are to discuss the bloodshed in Syria, including last week's massacre of more than 100 people in Houla. Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have pledged funds to aid Syria's rebels, but there is no direct evidence that anti-Assad forces are becoming better armed. The Arab League, however, does not appear ready to deploy its own troops. Kofi Annan, the international envoy for Syria, is also in Doha.
Syria opposition leader urges Arab military action
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FILE--In this April 30, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces, background, hold their machine guns and surround anti-Syrian regime mourners, foreground, during the funeral procession of the activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by the Syrian security forces on Sunday, in Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria. The swaggering gunmen operate as hired muscle for the Syrian regime, clutching rifles and daggers as they sweep through towns and villages, seeking vengeance on enemies of Bashar Assad. Recruited from the ruling elite's Alawite sect, the militiamen known as "shabiha" carry out some of the most ghastly attacks of Syria's violent conflict, allowing the regime to deny any direct responsibility. Witnesses have blamed shabiha for the Houla massacre over the weekend. (AP Photo, File)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes President of Russia Vladimir Putin, left, for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes President of Russia Vladimir Putin, left, for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes President of Russia Vladimir Putin, left, for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and President of Russia Vladimir Putin, left, arrive for a press conference after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
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Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to Geneva, delivers his statement during a special session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, June 1, 2012. The Human Rights Council holds a special session on "the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the recent killings in Houla". (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)
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Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to Geneva, delivers his statement during a special session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, June 1, 2012. The Human Rights Council holds a special session on "the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the recent killings in Houla". (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes President of Russia Vladimir Putin, left, for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
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Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to Geneva, attends a special session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, June 1, 2012. The Human Rights Council holds a special session on "the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the recent killings in Houla". (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)
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Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League Joint Special Envoy for Syria, speaks during a press conference after his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, unseen, at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, June 1, 2012. Annan said he is "impatient and frustrated," special envoy Kofi Annan called on the Syrian president Friday to implement a U.N.-brokered peace plan following a horrific weekend massacre that killed more than 100 people. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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