The Arab League has begun an emergency meeting in Cairo to consider possible action against Syria, where a violent government crackdown on dissent is believed to have resulted in more than 3,000 deaths.

Protesters gathered outside of the league's headquarters on Saturday and urged ministers to suspend Syria's membership.

Human Rights Watch and opposition activists made a similar plea on Friday.

The French news agency says before the meeting started, a league official said Syria's situation was “complex” and that Arab League ministers were trying to reconcile different viewpoints.

An agreement that the Arab League brokered with Syria earlier this month appears to have failed. The plan called for Syria to remove its forces from the streets, begin talks with the opposition and release political prisoners.

On Friday, activists said Syrian security forces killed 26 more people in the government's ongoing crackdown.

The U.N. human rights office says at least 3,500 people had been killed in the country since protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March.

Syria has blamed much of the deadly violence on “terrorists” and gunmen.