Syria says it is still open to Arab observer plan

Arab leaders are preparing to tighten sanctions slapped on the regime for its crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising.Arab leaders have given Syria a new deadline Sunday to respond to the League peace plan, which calls for the admission of observers to prevent regime violence against protesters.Syrias failure to meet a Nov. 25 deadline to allow observers saw the imposition of a raft of measures, including a ban on dealings with the countrys central bank.In addition to sanctions imposed by Western countries, the Arab measures are expected to deal significant damage to Syrias economy and may undercut the regimes authority.Syria is now signaling that it might still be willing to comply with the Arab Leagues peace plan, and that its objections to the plan are simply a matter of details.Messages are being exchanged between Syria and the Arab League to reach a certain vision that would facilitate the mission of observers in Syria, while preserving Syrian interests and sovereignty, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told reporters in Damascus.Damascus may simply be playing for time. Qatars prime minister said Saturday during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Gulf countrys capital Doha that he expected Syrian envoys to sign an agreement on Sunday.Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani said that failure to reach an agreement may lead to U.N. involvement in the Syrian crisis, although he did not spell out what that meant.Arab ministers have continued to meet to work out enforcement of the existing sanctions package.The central bank ban, a halt to Arab government funding of projects in Syria, and a freezing of Syrian government assets went into effect immediately.