Iraq to Launch Mediation to End Syria Crisis

Baghdad's foreign minister will lead an Iraqi initiative to end months of unrest in Syria by holding talks with the Damascus regime, opposition groups and the Arab League, an Iraqi official said Sunday.

Iraq is trying to mediate an end to nine months of bloody unrest in Syria where the U.N. estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in a regime crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

On Saturday Iraqi National Security Adviser Falah al-Fayadh was in Damascus where he said he had "positive" talks with Syria's embattled president.

He then traveled to Cairo where he met Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, and emerged from the talks sounding upbeat.

"We had very positive discussions on Sunday with the secretary general of the Arab League, who supported our initiative alongside that of the Arab League in an effort to find a solution between the Syrians," Fayadh said.

"Our next step is to launch our initiative, and this task will be led by the foreign minister (Hoshyar Zebari) who will announce the details and mechanisms to the Arab League and the Syrian parties soon," he said.

"Our efforts are still continuing to reach a deal between the government and the opposition in Syria," he told Agence France Presse by telephone from Cairo.

"It's too early to speak about the results."

But the minister in charge of Omani foreign affairs appeared certain that a breakthrough could be announced as early as Monday.

"We are optimistic that Syria will join the Arab League and sign the protocol within the next 24 hours," to allow observers on its soil, Youssef bin Alawi told reporters in Riyadh.

For his part, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, the head of an Arab League taskforce on Syria, was quoted by Al-Arabiya TV as saying “we have information that the Syrian president will sign the Arab initiative.”

The Arab League has threatened to take Syria to the United Nations for procrastinating over a deal to stop its deadly crackdown on dissent, after Russia proposed a surprise draft resolution to the conflict.

"As Russia has gone to the Security Council, a proposal will be presented in the (Arab ministers') meeting on December 21 that the Arab League goes to the Security Council to present the Arab initiative," the Qatari prime minister said on Saturday.

Earlier this month Syria, facing a raft of Arab and Western punitive measures, said it allow the mission, but laid down a number of conditions, namely the lifting of Arab sanctions.