U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said Monday that Syria has approved a visit to the conflict-stricken country this week.

Following widespread U.N. and Security Council complaints about President Bashar al-Assad's refusal to let her in, Amos said she would arrive in Damascus on Wednesday and leave on Friday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated on Monday that his party will not “stoop so low as to respond to some thugs” who have recently criticized his positions on Syria.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “Such slogans only reflect their political bankruptcy and their claims of defiance are really aimed at achieving Israeli goals.”

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who has been named special envoy to Syria for the U.N. and Arab League, will head to Damascus on March 10, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi told reporters on Monday.

Syria swiftly welcomed the visit, state television said, citing an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Sunday that the longer the Syrian crisis lasts, the greater the chances of extremists coming to power should the current regime be overthrown.

He said: “Those fearing the rise of extremists should quickly end the Syrian crisis.”

The Arab League on Monday named Palestinian diplomat Nasser al-Qudwa to serve as former UN chief Kofi Annan's deputy in his role as international envoy to conflict-stricken Syria.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said that Qudwa, a former foreign minister, had agreed to take on "this very difficult mission during a critical time for Syria."

Syrian forces on Monday bombarded the city of Rastan for a second straight day, monitors said, as former U.N. chief Kofi Annan and other world envoys prepared a diplomatic drive to end the bloodshed in Syria.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, meanwhile, said Syria had finally approved a visit, which she would make from Wednesday to Friday, following widespread complaints about President Bashar al-Assad's refusal to let her in.

Air France cancelled its Paris-Damascus flight on Monday because of unrest linked to ongoing protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

"Flight AF-570 is cancelled because of the situation in Syria," a spokesman told Agence France Presse, saying no decision had yet been taken on flights later in the week.

Russia will meet with foreign ministers of Arab states to discuss the Syria crisis in Cairo on March 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

"I especially value today's chance to prepare for a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and the Arab League states that will be held in Cairo on March 10," news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying after talks with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh.

Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour said around 2,000 people entered from Syria into Lebanon on Sunday, escaping the deadly crackdown by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad on protestors.

“Around 2,000 people entered Lebanese territories yesterday. Ten percent are families while the rest are youth,” Abou Faour told An Nahar daily published Monday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Sunday urged Moscow to "advise" its ally Syria to stop its deadly crackdown against dissent.

"Unfortunately, international efforts have failed and we have not seen results to stop the bloodshed and massacres in Syria," he told a news conference in the Saudi capital.