Syria agrees to extend Arab observer mission

Syria has agreed to extend a widely criticised Arab League observer
mission for a second month, just hours after launching an angry tirade
against the bloc's efforts to mediate in the crisis.
League
officials had warned that the monitors, already depleted by the
withdrawal of the six oil-rich Gulf states from the mission, would be
confined to base from Wednesday if Syria's agreement was not
forthcoming.
"Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sent a letter tonight
to the secretary general of the Arab League (Nabil al-Arabi) informing
him of the Syrian government's agreement to extend the observer mission
for one month, from January 24 until February 23, 2012," said a
statement carried by the official SANA news agency on Tuesday.
The
announcement came after Muallem delivered a stinging attack on the
League following its weekend call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand
power to his deputy and clear the way for a unity government within two
months.
"Enough of the Arab solutions from now," Muallem said,
accusing the Arabs of "plotting" to internationalise the crisis and
taking decisions while "knowing that they will be rejected" by Damascus.