Saudi pulls out observers as Arabs set to extend Syria mission

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it is to pull its observers from a widely criticised Arab League mission to Syria, as a panel recommended the body extend its observer mission to the unrest-swept country.Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in Cairo that the move, which hints at sharp differences of opinion within the Leagues ranks, was being taken because Damascus had not kept its promises.Riyadh is withdrawing from the mission because the Syrian government has not respected any of the clauses in the Arab plan aimed at ending the crisis, he said according to the text of a statement he made at a ministerial meeting.Earlier, a League official confirmed after a panel met behind closed doors to hear a report on the mission that its recommendation would be an extension.Yes, thats what is going to be recommended to the plenary session, the official said ahead of a foreign ministers meeting.The panel was briefed on the first month of the Syria monitoring mission by its chief, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi of Sudan.Dabi wants his mandate to be strengthened, not scrapped, another League official said earlier.In a statement late on Saturday, the general said the missions mandate was to verify that the Syrian government has implemented the terms of an Arab League plan to solve the crisis, not to stop the bloodshed and violence.But the opposition Syrian National Council, which been lobbying in Cairo for UN intervention, said it would reveal a counter-report later on Sunday to try to discredit Dabis account.The SNC also called for the Syria file to be transferred to the UN Security Council for referral to the International Criminal Court, so that all Syrian officials implicated in crimes against humanity could be prosecuted under international law.