In Syria, army defectors have attacked an intelligence complex near the capital of Damascus earlier today, their boldest action yet in the popular uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The operation comes as the Arab League is meeting in Morocco, where it is expected to affirm a decision to suspend Syria’s membership and pressure the Assad regime to stop the crackdown. Ahead of the meeting, Syria released nearly 1,200 prisoners in an apparent bid to avoid another rebuke. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said pressure is growing on Assad.

Mark Toner: “We look for the Arab League tomorrow to again send a forceful message to Assad that he needs to allow for a democratic transition to take place and to end the violence against his people. The King of Jordan came out yesterday and said that Assad should step down, and we also have Turkey coming out today with very forceful statements about the situation in Syria. So I think what we’re seeing here and continue to see is that the drumbeat of international pressure is increasing on Assad.”