Syria will not send a delegation to Doha on Sunday to sign a protocol to accept observers to monitor unrest sweeping the country after it demanded new amendments to the deal, a senior Qatari official said.
"No," the official told AFP when asked if a delegation from Damascus was expected in Doha. The official, who requested anonymity, said that Syria has asked for "new clarifications and further amendments to be made to the protocol which was proposed" to send observers.
The Arab League ministerial committee late on Saturday gave Damascus until Sunday to accept observers to monitor the deadly unrest and thereby avoid further sanctions. The Saturday meeting issued a list of 19 Syrian officials banned from travel to Arab countries and whose assets are to be frozen by those states.
The Arab League had approved sweeping sanctions against Assad's government over the crackdown -- the first time that the bloc has enforced such punitive measures against one of its own members.
The Qatari official said, however, that if Syrian officials "still want to sign, they can come tomorrow to Cairo."
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