Qatar revives proposal to send an Arab force to Syria

CAIRO (Reuters) - Qatar has made a fresh call for an Arab force to end bloodshed in Syria if current diplomatic efforts by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi fail, according to the Doha-based al Jazeera television.

Brahimi is trying to build on an agreement reached in Geneva on June 30 calling for a transitional period in Syria. But differences between Russia and the United States over the future of President Bashar al-Assad continue to block a deal to end 21 months of violence that has killed more than 60,000 Syrians.