¡¡¡¡BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Arab ministers have reportedly agreed on a draft resolution on Syria. The announcement by Iraq's foreign minister comes ahead of a Arab League Summit in Baghdad. At the same time, the Iraqi Prime Minister called on AL members to respect the choice of people from other countries, as Damascus said it would reject any initiatives made at the summit relating to Syria.

¡¡¡¡Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday called for a U.N.-backed peace plan for Syria to be put into action. The call comes after President Bashar al-Assad agreed to a proposal that urges an end to violence but does not demand the Syrian leader step down.

¡¡¡¡Hoshiyar Zebari, Iraqi FM, said, "We have reached a draft resolution that will be submitted to Arab leaders. This draft resolution stems from previous Arab decisions and is based on the recent developments related to the tasks of the joint envoy of the United Nations and Arab League Kofi Annan, in addition to Syria's acceptance of the initiative."

¡¡¡¡Arab leaders are expected to endorse the six-point proposal from Kofi Annan at the Arab League Summit in Baghdad. The proposal seeks a ceasefire and political dialogue in what Iraq called a"last chance" for Syria. But despite a common front reached by the Arab countries, Iraq's Prime Minister insisted that challenges such as terrorism remain, and he called on AL members not to interfere in the choices made by other countries' people.

¡¡¡¡Nuri Al-Maliki, Iraqi PM, said, "Facing the situation and challengers, some people begin to think in place of others. It has become very common, and made us get involved with irrelevant matters. When the people of a country is making decision, we should respect their will."

¡¡¡¡Syria's foreign ministry spokesman has said Damascus will reject any initiatives made at the summit relating to the country. The Annan proposal is the latest attempt to broker an end to more than a year of violence in Syria after Assad sent troops into cities to try to crush rebels seeking to end his 12-year rule. It calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centres, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists. But it does not hinge on Assad leaving office.

¡¡¡¡(Source: CNTV.cn)