Jordan’s King Abdullah has become the first Arab ruler to call for Syrian president Bashar Assad to step down.
The statement came as Arabs closed ranks against Damascus with the Arab League voting to suspend Syria over attacks on protesters that the UN estimates have killed 3,500 people since mid-March.
"If Bashar (Assad) has the interest of his country, he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life," King Abdullah told the BBC in an interview.
Earlier, Syria said the Arab League decision to suspend it was "an extremely dangerous step" at a time when it was implementing a deal with the organisation to end violence and start a dialogue with the opposition.
Syria had withdrawn troops from urban areas, released prisoners and offered an amnesty to armed insurgents under the terms of the initiative agreed with the Arab League two weeks ago to end eight months of unrest, the country’s foreign minister Walid al-Moualem told a televised news conference in Damascus.
The United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests demanding the end to Dr Assad's rule. Damascus blames armed groups for the violence and says 1,100 soldiers and police have been killed.
Mr Moualem described Washington's welcome of the Arab League move as "incitement". He apologised for attacks on diplomatic missions in Syria after the suspension was announced. "As for attacks on foreign embassies, as the foreign minister I apologise for these aggressions," he said.
Mr Moualem expressed confidence that Russia and China would continue to block Western efforts at the United Nations to condemn Syrian actions, and also played down the prospect of any Western military intervention in Syria.
"The Libya scenario will not be repeated", he said, arguing that Arab and Western countries knew they may pay a higher military price to confront the Syrian army.
Mr Moualem said Damascus was organising a dialogue with opposition figures and "all elements of Syrian society", which he said were not all represented by the government or the opposition. "We have reached the beginning of the end of the crisis," he said.
Reuters