Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.—File Photo

DAMASCUS: The Arab League on Saturday suspended its controversial observer mission in Syria, a day after the monitors’ chief said killing had spiked this week, with the death toll approaching 200.

The announcement came as umbrella opposition group the Syrian National Council (SNC) said its leader would travel to New York to press the UN Security Council for protection from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

SNC chief Burhan Ghaliun’s trip comes amid a new bid by Arab and European states for UN action over the deadly 11-month crackdown on dissent, which has hit immediate opposition from staunch Syrian ally Russia.

It also comes as Arab Gulf States and Turkey called in Istanbul for global efforts to focus on bringing the bloodshed to an “immediate end” and paving the way for the initiation of a political transition in line with “legitimate demands of the people.” Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said “the decision to suspend the observer mission was taken after a series of consultations with Arab foreign ministers because of the upsurge of violence whose victims are innocent civilians.” In a Cairo statement, he said it also came “after the Syrian government chose the option of escalation, which increased the number of victims.” The head of the Arab League monitors said unrest had soared since Tuesday “in a significant way,” especially in the flashpoint central cities of Homs and Hama and in the northern Idlib region.

The violence “does not help… to get all sides to sit at the negotiating table,” General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi said on Friday.

According to a tally by AFP taken from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and official Syrian media, 193 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Tuesday.

That compares with the figure of more than 5,400 given by the United Nations last month since anti-regime protests erupted in March.

Amid the upsurge in killing, the SNC has “decided to head to the Security Council tomorrow, led by Burhan Ghaliun, to present the Syrian case… and demand protection,” executive committee member Samir Neshar told an Istanbul news conference.

He spoke after the Gulf Arab states and Turkey, which have led regional condemnation of Damascus, also called on Assad to accept an Arab League proposal for him to step down and turn over power to his deputy before formation of a unity government.

Syria has categorically rejected the proposal.

“We hope Syria seriously evaluates the decisions of the Arab League, puts an end to repression against its people and start a reform process in line with the demands of the people,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The ministers also “strongly urged the Syrian administration to fulfill without delay all of its commitments and obligations under the Arab League peace initiative.” The 165 League observers were deployed on December 26 after Syria agreed to a League plan foreseeing a halt to the violence, prisoners freed, tanks withdrawn from built-up areas and free movement of observers and foreign media.

Damascus did not fulfill any of those clauses.

Deadly clashes and an ambush on a bus transporting soldiers claimed at least 15 lives on Saturday, according to activists and state media.

Damascus does not recognize the scale of the protest movement, insisting instead that it is fighting “terrorist groups” seeking to sow chaos as part of a foreign-hatched conspiracy.

As the violence rages, wrangling continues over the wording of a draft UN Security Council resolution its supporters want put to the vote in the next week.

Russia made clear that the Arab and European draft formally submitted by Morocco on Friday crossed “our red lines.” Despite the mounting death toll, the Security Council has not adopted a single resolution on the crisis since the protests first erupted.

A previous European draft that would have threatened “targeted measures” against Assad’s regime was vetoed by Beijing and Moscow in October.

Backers of the new resolution hope that critics — who also include India and South Africa – will be swayed by the tough new stance of the Arab League.

The new text “fully supports” the Arab League plan and “encourages” all states to follow sanctions adopted by pan-Arab bloc last November, but contains no mandatory action.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the wording crossed “our red lines, where we cannot go.” He said Moscow opposed any hint of sanctions, arms embargo or “regime change” and accused the Arab League of seeking to “impose” a solution.

The council has been split on Syria since last year’s resolution on Libya, which critics say Nato abused to launch military action in support of the uprising that overthrew Moamer Qadhafi.

The SNC urged Syria’s diaspora to protest on Sunday outside Russian diplomatic missions against Moscow’s opposition to the draft resolution.