CAIRO: Arab League ministers will meet this weekend to mull a response to Syria which wants the bloc to lift sanctions as its price to allow observers to monitor deadly unrest, an Arab diplomat said Thursday. A taskforce chaired by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani and comprising the foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Oman and Sudan will gather in Doha with Arab League chief Nabil Al-Araby. Syria said on Sunday it will allow observers into the country as part of an Arab peace plan to end months of violence, in a bid to avoid sweeping sanctions the bloc has decided to impose on the Damascus regime. But Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, in a letter to Al-Araby, said Syria would accept the monitors under certain conditions. According to the text, published in the Syrian press on Tuesday, Muallem demanded the complete overturn of sanctions approved by the Arab League on November 27. "The government considers all decisions taken by the Arab League... including Syria's suspension and the sanctions taken by the ministerial committee against it, to be null and void once Damascus signs the protocol" for observers, said the text. The head of the pan-Arab organization was in Iraq on Thursday to seek Baghdad's help in trying to persuade Syria to allow observers into the troubled country. Al-Araby said Syria should sign an Arab League-proposed peace plan as soon as possible if it wants to avert economic penalties from Arab states over its eight-month crackdown on protesters. The Arab League Chief said he held talks with senior officials in Iraq, which borders Syria, to "explore whether the Iraqi government is willing to exert its influence with Syria" to agree to the Arab plan. "What we expect is as soon as possible Syria will accept to sign the protocol... Now it is up to Syria, the ball is in the Syrian court," Al-Araby said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari in Baghdad. "It is up to them. (If) they want to stop the economic sanctions, they sign." Already hit by economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, Syria now faces further sanctions from neighbouring Arab nations in response to its violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's neighbors Turkey and Jordan are calling on Assad to step down, with Ankara imposing 30 percent duty on imports from Syria in retaliation for a similar tax imposed on Turkish goods. Iraq, however, has resisted sanctions against Damascus. Officials say they are worried unrest in Syria could spill over the border and upset Iraq's delicate sectarian balance. The Arab League has repeatedly extended deadlines for Syria to agree to a plan that would see Arab monitors oversee its withdrawal of troops from towns. The latest expired on Sunday. Syria says the Arab proposal to admit observers infringes on its sovereignty, and has asked for clarification. Al-Araby said no new deadline has been set and the Arab League's sanctions have taken effect on Nov. 27. He also said the League is likely to meet representatives of the Syrian opposition by next week. Speaking alongside Al-Araby, Zebari said Iraq was in talks with both the Syrian government and the opposition to try to end the bloodshed. "We have good contact with the Syrian government. We can play a responsible role in supporting the Arab initiative," Zebari said.
