Video: William Hague: joint UN-Arab League force 'urgently' needed in Syria At Sunday's Arab League meeting, a UN-Arab team was proposed to replace the 170 Arab observers deployed in December and recalled last month. Mr Hague said it was "unacceptable to the world" that the Assad regime was allowed to continue "butchering innocent people." He added that the UK would play a "very active part" in the new Group of Friends of Syria, which has been established to increase political and financial support to opposition leaders in Syria. The group will meet on February 24.