Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the crisis in Syria amid Western and Arab-led efforts to pile pressure on President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the crisis in Syria amid Western and Arab-led efforts to pile pressure on President Bashar Al-Assad's regime.

The Arab League committee on Syria -comprising Egypt, Sudan, Oman, Algeria and Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi- met at the organization’s headquarters ahead of a wider meeting of Arab top diplomats and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

According to AFP, Lavrov, who arrived on Friday, has already met with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.

Moreover, the Russian foreign minister has earlier made clear to Annan that Moscow is opposed to "crude interference" from the outside into Syrian internal affairs.

"A particular emphasis was placed on the inadmissibility of trampling on international legal norms, including through crude interference in Syria's internal affairs," the foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting between Lavrov and Annan in Cairo.

The talks at the Arab League come as former UN chief Kofi Annan, who was named United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria, headed to Damascus for crucial talks with Al-Assad.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that “Annan would demand an immediate end to the violence and to provide desperately needed relief supplies to civilians trapped by the fighting.”

“I very strongly urged Kofi Annan to ensure there must be an immediate ceasefire," Ban said.

He added that “Annan would seek to encourage dialogue between Al-Assad's government and the opposition.”