Arab League foreign ministers today gave Syria's government three days to agree to end its crackdown on protesters and allow in teams of observers.
The foreign ministers, meeting in the Moroccan capital, did not say what would happen if Damascus failed to comply.
Asked if the proposal was a last-ditch attempt at diplomacy, Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani told reporters: "We do not want to talk about a last-ditch attempt because I do not want this to sound like a warning."
"What I can say is that we are close to the end of the road as far as the (Arab League's) efforts on this front are concerned," he said.
Speaking at the same meeting, Arab League secretary general Nabil Elaraby said the time was not right to hold an Arab League summit on Syria.
Elsewhere, Syrian army defectors attacked an intelligence complex on the edge of Damascus early this morning in a high-profile assault that highlights how an eight-month popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad risks sliding into armed conflict.
The attack coincided with intense international pressure on Dr Assad to halt the bloodshed, which the United Nations says has cost more than 3,500 lives since protests erupted in March.
France has recalled its ambassador from Syria and is working with the Arab League on a new draft resolution at the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said today.
"New violence is taking place and that has led to the closure of the missions in Aleppo and Latakia and to the recall of our ambassador to Paris," Mr Juppe told lawmakers.
Arab foreign ministers met in Rabat today after Syria's suspension from the Arab League took effect.
"As of November 16th we will apply the suspension of Syria's participation in the Arab League," Moroccan foreign minister Taieb Fassi Fihri told Reuters. Syria's chair was empty as an Arab-Turkish forum got under way in the Moroccan capital.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Syria's leadership has failed to honour commitments it made to end violence against anti-government protesters and will pay the price.
Turkey, now a fierce critic of its former ally, said Syria had failed to honour an Arab peace plan to halt the unrest. Speaking in Rabat through a translator, Mr Davutoglu compared Syria with Libya, where rebels captured and killed Muammar Gadafy in humiliating fashion last month.
"The regime should meet the demands of its people," he said. "The collective massacres in Syria and . . . the bloodshed cannot continue like this.
"The Syrian regime didn't respect commitments it made after the November 2nd resolution," Mr Davutoglu, at a meeting with Arab foreign ministers in the Moroccan capital, said in reference to an Arab League plan for ending the bloodshed.
"The Syrian regime will pay a high price for that."
Reuters