DAMASCUS: Syria said Tuesday it will spurn further Arab efforts to resolve its political crisis, as Gulf states piled on pressure by pulling their observers out of the country and urging strong UN action.
"Enough of the Arab solutions from now," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said, accusing the Arabs of "plotting" to internationalise the crisis and taking decisions while "knowing that they will be rejected" by Damascus.
His remarks came after the Arab League called on Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy and to clear the way for a unity government within two months, in a surprise weekend announcement.
"We do not want Arab solutions. We said that two days ago when we refused the initiative and when the ministers council decided to turn to the Security Council," said Muallem. "We categorically refused (this proposal)."
"The solution is a Syrian one based on the interests of the Syrian people ... based on the completion of the reform program proposed by President Bashar al-Assad," he told a televised news conference.
Muallem also said Syria had no choice but to confront armed groups the government claims are fomenting violence that the UN says has killed more than 5,400 people since March.
"It is the duty of the Syrian government to take the necessary measures to address the problem of those armed elements who are wreaking havoc throughout Syria," he said, stressing Russia would never accept foreign intervention.
"No one can doubt the strength of the Russian-Syrian relationship," based on their history and the interests of both people, he said.
Activists who accuse Assad's regime of killing peaceful pro-democracy protesters said security forces stormed the central city of Hama on Tuesday as part of its ongoing crackdown.
"Syrian troops are storming the city from its southern and western entrances," Saleh al-Hamwi, spokesman of the General Revolution Commission, told AFP.
Tanks were being deployed around Baba Qibli neighbourhood, where massive protests have been staged and where mutinous soldiers of the Free Syrian Army have been hiding out, he added.
Muallem admitted the violence as well as international sanctions were causing an economic crisis in Syria, but vowed the government would not be swayed.
"There is no doubt that any kind of sanctions affect the population but they do not affect the political situation," Muallem said, speaking a day after EU foreign ministers slapped fresh sanctions on Syria's military brass.
The Arab League said Tuesday it has requested a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon so it can present its proposals on resolving the crisis and demand support from the UN Security Council.
The request was issued jointly by the pan-Arab body's secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, deputy secretary Ahmad bin Helli told AFP.
In a related development, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced in a joint statement they had decided "to follow Saudi Arabia's decision to pull out its observers from the Arab League mission in Syria."
They said their decision arose from "closely following developments in Syria and after they confirmed that the bloodshed and killings there continue (and after) the Syrian regime did not comply with implementing the Arab League decisions."
They also called on "members of the UN Security Council ... to take all needed measures at the Security Council to press Syria to implement the Arab League decisions and the Arab initiative on Syria."
Gulf officials accounted for 54 of the 165 monitors in the Arab League mission to Syria, according to a GCC source.
Saudi Arabia, the most influential GCC member, decided on Sunday to pull its observers from a widely criticised Arab League mission to Syria. Other GCC members include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Western nations are capitalising on the Arab League's tough new stance to embark on a new diplomatic offensive to push the UN Security Council to take touch action on the crisis.
Germany's UN ambassador Peter Wittig said it could mark a "game changer."
Wittig and the British and French ambassadors met counterparts from some Arab League nations late Monday to map out the next moves at the UN, after Arab foreign ministers sought Security Council endorsement for their new plan.
The European countries have asked for the Security Council to request that Arab League chief Arabi brief the 15-member Council "as soon as possible", diplomats said.
The Security Council has been blocked for months over Syria. Russia and China vetoed a proposed European resolution in October saying it was the first steps toward enforced regime change.
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