¡¡¡¡Video>>Tension mount around Syrian capital

¡¡¡¡DAMASCUS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) will hold a foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the worsening situation in Syria, the AL's deputy chief says.

¡¡¡¡Ahmed bin Helli, the AL's deputy secretary general, said the meeting will discuss a report on Syria and the status of the organization's observer mission in Syria.

¡¡¡¡That's to decide whether to withdraw the monitors or alter the nature of the mission, he said.

¡¡¡¡The AL suspended its mission Saturday because of security concerns.

¡¡¡¡Adnan al-Khodair, head of the organization's monitoring operation room in Cairo, told Xinhua that the decision was made to"protect observers from increasing violence."

¡¡¡¡The Syrian government, however, expressed "regret and astonishment" over the decision.

¡¡¡¡"It was clear that the observers' report that affirmed the existence of armed groups in Syria... wasn't satisfactory for some Arab countries," the official Syrian SANA news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.

¡¡¡¡The source reaffirmed Syria's commitment to making the observer mission a success according to the protocol it signed with the AL and to provide protection for the observers.

¡¡¡¡Nabil al-Arabi, secretary general of the AL, went to the United Nations on Sunday to seek Security Council support for a proposal to end the months-long unrest in Syria by asking President Bashar al-Assad to resign.

¡¡¡¡Arabi was to brief the Security Council about the peace proposal, which has already gained backing from some Western nations.

¡¡¡¡"We will hold several meetings with representatives from members of the Security Council to obtain the council's support and agreement to the Arab initiative," the secretary general said before leaving Cairo.

¡¡¡¡Arabi said he will also try to persuade Russia, which vetoed a draft resolution on Syria in October, to give the green light to a Security Council resolution backing the AL's proposal to end the10-month conflict.

¡¡¡¡UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Sunday at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa that Assad must end the escalating violence in his country. "First and foremost, he must stop immediately the bloodshed," Ban said.

¡¡¡¡Ban said that as president, Assad has an important responsibility to resolve the situation and engage in political dialogue.

¡¡¡¡The UN says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the unrest that began in March. The Syrian government says more than2,000 army and security personnel have been killed during the violence.

¡¡¡¡Syrian troops entered some restive suburbs of the capital Damascus on Sunday to confront what the government called "armed terrorist groups," a witness told Xinhua anonymously.

¡¡¡¡Earlier in the day, an armed group targeted a military bus with a roadside bomb in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers, including two officers, the SANA reported.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, the Doha-based al-Jazeera TV cited activists as saying that at least 48 people were killed during the military operation.

¡¡¡¡The Syrian government blames the worsening unrest on armed groups and a "foreign conspiracy."

¡¡¡¡"We will defeat the plot," Assad said in a recent televised appearance, adding "they (conspirators) are in their final stage. Restoring security is the ultimate priority for Syria at this stage. Terrorists would be beaten with an iron fist."

¡¡¡¡Assad has to hold free elections and approve multiple political parties in Syria but the country needs time to implement the reforms, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters Sunday during the AU summit.