DAMASCUS/ JEDDAH (Agencies) – Jordan Times. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah demanded an end to the bloodshed in Syria in the early hours of Monday, and said he was withdrawing his country’s ambassador from Damascus.

“What is happening in Syria is not acceptable for Saudi Arabia,” he said in a written statement read out on Al Arabiya satellite television, cited by Reuters.

“Syria should think wisely before it’s too late and issue and enact reforms that are not merely promises but actual reforms,” he said. “Either it chooses wisdom on its own or it will be pulled down into the depths of turmoil and loss.”

On Sunday, Syrian forces backed by tanks killed more than 50 people, activists said, as President Bashar Assad defended the state’s duty to crack down on “outlaws”.

The new bloodshed came as Pope Benedict XVI and the Arab League added their voices to mounting international condemnation of Syria’s crackdown on nearly five months of pro-democracy protests, Agence France-Presse reported. read more