Syria Nixes Arab League Peace Plan

Syria has quickly rejected a peace plan floated by the Arab League, today calling it a "flagrant interference" in the country's internal affairs. The plan, proposed as the Arab League's observer mission flounders, called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down within two weeks, transfer power to his vice president, and begin negotiations with the opposition. It also called for a national unity government within two months, and ultimately sought supervised presidential and parliamentary elections, the AP reports.

But, according to the state-run news agency, Damascus considers the plan just the latest evidence of an international conspiracy against the country. The European Union backed the plan today, while also extending current sanctions against the Syrian government, but a spokesperson for the Syrian National Council says the League must go so far as to demand Assad relinquish power. The League also called for an end to the military crackdown on protesters, but the violence continues: Five soldiers were reportedly killed in a clash between troops and army defectors today. (More Bashar al-Assad stories.)