Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Wednesday (September 5th) condemned the "pursuit of violence" carried out by Syrian authorities and their shabiha militias against Syrian civilians, AFP reported.

"The Syrian government must stop immediately and completely all forms of violence and killings against the Syrian people," the ministers said in a statement issued during the Arab League meeting in Cairo.

"The crimes and massacres being carried out are crimes against humanity," the statement said.

"The UN Security Council must take all the necessary measures to bring to international justice all those responsible for these crimes," it said.

At least 26,000 people have been killed since the uprising against the Damascus regime broke out in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The ministers expressed "deep concern for the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Syria, which forced the displacement of 2.5 million people, while hundreds of thousands were forced to flee to neighbouring countries".

They also asked Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim, who heads a ministerial committee on the Syrian crisis, to hold talks with UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, to discuss his mission.