CAIRO - Arab League (AL) foreign ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting at the end of this week to discuss the Syrian situation, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported on Saturday.

Meanwhile, AL's special ministerial committee following the Syrian situation will also convene to decide on the Arab response to Syria's recent positive stance toward the AL observer mission, the agency quoted an AL official as saying.

In a message sent by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem to AL chief Nabil al-Arabi earlier this week, Syria welcomed monitoring by observers, but proposed some minor amendments that would not affect the protocol's essence.

Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the minor amendments included that the protocol should be signed in Damascus, and that all the decisions and sanctions against Syria should be considered "null and void once the two sides signed the protocol."

On November 27, the pan-Arab body, which officially suspended Syria's membership on November 16, decided to immediately impose sanctions against Syria, as the violence-hit country failed to sign a protocol over the visit of an AL observer mission.