DAMASCUS(PFP): Syria on Monday rejected an Arab League (AL) plan for President Bashar al-Assad to transfer power to his deputy, calling the initiative a “flagrant interference,” state TV quoted an official as saying.

“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 was quoted as saying.

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

Assad should “delegate powers to the vice president to liaise with a government of national unity,” to be formed in two months, according to a statement read by Qatari premier Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani after Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo to determine the fate of their observer mission.