Dubai: The Arab League yesterday threatened to take Syria to the United Nations Security Council for further action if observers were not allowed into the country.
Syria was given until Wednesday to decide when Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo for a "decisive and important" meeting on their next course of action.
The Qatari Prime Minister, Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani, said there was near-unanimity among Arab states on taking the issue to the UN after Syria demanded changes to the Arab League's proposal for ending the violence.
The Arab plan called for Syria to halt its crackdown and to allow in Arab observers to ensure compliance with the deal.
The Arab League has also suspended Syria's membership from the bloc and imposed sanctions.
Shaikh Hamad's remarks, following an Arab ministerial committee meeting in Qatar yesterday, indicated that the camp objecting to outside intervention may be getting smaller.
Syria has been under unprecedented pressure to let observers in as the death toll in the nine-month long uprising has claimed more than 5,000 lives.
Iraqi delegation
While the Qatar meeting was in progress, an Iraqi delegation arrived in Damascus to meet Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and hold talks on ending the crisis.
Ali Al Mousawi, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, said the delegation was looking for a peaceful solution. He did not give any further details.
Iraq was one of the countries that refrained from voting in favour of Arab sanctions against Syria.
There has been an escalation in armed clashes in Syria recently, raising concerns that the country was lurching towards civil war.
Death toll
The UN raised its death toll for the Syrian uprising substantially last week, saying more than 5,000 people have been killed since the revolt started nine months ago.
On Friday, Syria's most vocal backer Russia, shocked the UN by proposing its own initiative at the UN to stop the violence. The draft calls for an end to all violence, but does not contain any sanctions.
