Arab League to meet in Cairo over Syria unrest

The head of the suspended Arab League observer mission to Syria has resigned as foreign ministers from the League meet to decide their next move in the crisis. The League has appointed former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib as special envoy to Syria.A UN resolution on Syria based on an Arab League peace plan failed at the Security Council last week. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda’s leader has backed the Syrian uprising.In a video message, Ayman al-Zawahiri told the opposition not to rely on the West or Arab countries for support. Zawahiri - who took over the leadership of al-Qaeda following the death of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011 - described the Syrian government as a “cancerous regime that suffocated the free people of Syria”. He called on Muslims to offer whatever help they could.Controversial Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, who led the month-long Arab League observer mission to Syria, submitted his resignation on Sunday. Human rights groups criticised him for his actions in Darfur, where Sudan is accused of genocide by the International Criminal Court. The Arab League suspended its mission in Syria at the end of January, after it failed to halt the violence. Former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib is to be named as the Arab League’s new special envoy to Syria