DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Syria has agreed, with conditions, to an Arab League demand it allow observers into the country as part of a proposal to end violence there, an official said.
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdesi said Damascus is eager to resolve the deadly confrontations that have afflicted the nation for months, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported Monday.
"The protocol is intended to be signed soon," Maqdesi said. "The Syrian government has responded positively to the draft protocol. I am optimistic, although I await the Arab League response first."
At least 4,000 protesters seeking political reform have been killed in Syria since mid-March, human rights watch groups estimate. Turkey, the Arab League, the European Union and the United States have all imposed sanctions on Syria to pressure President Bashar Assad to step down from office and end violence in the country.
Syria, however, will not sign the Arab League's initiative unless a list of conditions are met, including ending Syria's suspension from the league and sanctions against the country being lifted, The Guardian reported.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said the agreement must be signed in Damascus and that foreign observers must be coordinated through Syrian authorities.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby said any suspension of sanctions would have to be agreed upon by all of the league's foreign ministers.
"The conditions contained new elements that we have not heard before," Araby said. "These sanctions are in force until another decision is adopted by the Arab foreign ministers."
Syria has fought the proposal to bring in as many as 500 foreign observers into the country since the Arab League first suggested it, The New York Times reported.
"I highly doubt that they will let observers in, and if they do, they are going to be taken to places were there are supporters," said a 32-year-old resident of Damascus who gave her name as Samah. "They are just buying time."
