Syria rejected Monday the Arab League’s demand that President Bashar Al-Assad transfers power to his deputy, as well as any request that is outside an Arab working plan.

Syria rejected Monday the Arab League’s demand that President Bashar Al-Assad transfers power to his deputy, as well as any request that is outside an Arab working plan.

The Syrian state TV quoted a Syrian official as saying that the initiative is a “flagrant interference”.

“Syria rejects the decisions taken which are outside an Arab working plan, and considers them an attack on its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in internal affairs," the official added.

On Sunday, the Arab League asked the UN to support a new plan for resolving the crisis in Syria that sees President Al-Assad transferring power to his deputy and a government of national unity within two months.

Responding to the AL, the Syrian official indicated that “the regional body should instead assume its responsibilities for stopping the financing and arming of terrorists,” adding that “the Arab League initiative ran counter to the interests of the Syrian people and would not prevent the country from advancing its political reforms and bringing security and stability to its people who have shown, during this crisis, their support for national unity as they have rallied around President Assad."

Arab League Demands President Bashar Al-Assad to Transfer Power to Deputy

After a meeting that was held Sunday to discuss the observer mission’s report on the situation in Syria, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani read a statement in which he asked the Syrian president to transfer power to his deputy, and demanded that a “serious” dialogue takes place in order to form a unity government within two months.

“The Syrian government and all the opposition factions should engage in a serious dialogue under the auspices of the Arab League, within a period of not more than two weeks, to be able to achieve the formation of a unity government bringing together those in power and the opposition," the statement read.

"We will inform the United Nations of all the resolutions of the Arab League... for its approval," Al-Thani further said, warning that “if this initiative is not put in place (by Damascus), we will go to the Security Council, where the decisions will be taken."

Moreover, the Qatari foreign minister stressed that "any transition in Syria should be preceded with the announcement of Assad's departure."

For his part, the League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi explained that the request for the support of the United Nations was designed to give more weight to the Arab initiative.