Opposition figure Georges Sabra has left Syria for France where he told the Liberation daily that "the Syrian people deserve to be protected by the U.N."

"My party sent me here to help the SNC (Syrian National Council, the country's largest opposition group), to work as a team," the head of the Democratic People's Party told Liberation's Tuesday edition

Gulf Arab states have decided to pull their observers sent to Syria as part of an Arab League mission out of the restive country, they announced in a joint official statement on Tuesday.

"Gulf Cooperation Council states have decided to follow Saudi Arabia's decision to pull out its observers from the Arab League mission in Syria," the GCC statement said.

A member of Russia's Parliament, Mikhail Margelov, said Monday that Moscow ran out of methods to stop the international push for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.

Russia's veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria "was the last instrument allowing Bashar Assad to maintain the status quo in the international arena,” Margelov was quoted as saying by Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.

A senior U.S. diplomat visiting Russia will press Moscow on a reported deal to sell Syria fighter jets, something Washington described as "quite concerning," the State Department said.

Jeffrey Feltman, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, was in Moscow on Monday and Syria was "issue number one on his agenda," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington.

A cabinet session that was initially aimed at discussing the 2012 draft state budget on Monday turned into a debate on the electricity crisis and the recent attack by the Syrian navy on three Lebanese fishermen off the coast of the northern town of Arida.

Premier Najib Miqati met with Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi on Tuesday to discuss his study on the draft budget.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Monday ruled out an imminent collapse of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government.

“The issue of changing the government is not on the table at the moment, given the concessions Hizbullah has been making to guarantee the survival of the government, which is vital to its alliance with Syria,” Gemayel said in an interview on MTV.

Germany on Monday led European demands for strong U.N. Security Council support for Arab League calls for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power.

Germany's U.N. ambassador Peter Wittig said the Arab League plan for Syria agreed at the weekend could be a "game changer" for the Security Council which has been deadlocked with Russia and China vetoing one resolution condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Monday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour’s position on the Syrian crisis, saying that it is harming Lebanon’s credibility.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “If only Lebanon’s envoy at the Arab League meetings would remain silent over the Syrian crisis instead of proposing solutions to the unrest.”

The Arab League's latest roadmap for an end to the crisis in Syria signals that regional states see the Assad era drawing to a close, although it could yet be a slow process, analysts said Monday.

"I think the Arab League yesterday unexpectedly pulled the rabbit out of the hat," said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated on Monday that Lebanon chose to distance itself from the Arab League decision on Syria that was taken on Sunday.

He said: “Dialogue between the Syrian opposition and leadership will end the country’s crisis.”