The head of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation on Monday warned of a possible internationalization of the Syrian crisis if the regime does not comply with calls for reform and end the bloodshed.

If Syria "does not comply with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people and international calls by the OIC, the Arab League and the United Nations, it will risk the internationalization of its crisis," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said.

The Arab League is preparing to send observers to Syria but needs guarantees from Damascus on their mission and the rights of each side, the organization’s chief Nabil al-Arabi said Monday.

The decision to send a 500-strong delegation follows a vote to suspend Damascus from the 22-member Arab bloc over its deadly crackdown on protests. It came a day after Syria said it would welcome such a mission.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday became the first Arab leader to call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, in a BBC interview.

"I believe, if I were in his shoes, I would step down," the king said. "I would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Monday defended his country's abstention from a vote on suspending Syria from the Arab League, emphasizing that events in Syria have a direct impact on Iraq.

The Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria, which has been trying to crush a popular uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime since March.

Turkey's foreign minister warned embattled leaders in Syria and other Middle East countries on Monday that those who cannot meet their people's demands "will go".

Ahmet Davutoglu spoke a day after Ankara expressed outrage after attacks on its diplomatic missions in Syria by pro-regime protesters and summoned the country's envoy.

Syrian strongman Bashar Assad's exiled uncle, a former regime insider accused of carrying out a massacre in 1982, says he wants to oversee a peaceful transition of power in his homeland.

On Sunday, Rifaat Assad took charge of a new opposition movement in exile. Afterwards, in an interview with AFP and Le Monde, he urged Arab and world powers to negotiate his nephew's safe departure from power.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Monday that the government in Damascus will not budge despite its suspension from the Arab League, which he warned was a "dangerous step."

"The decision of the Arab League to suspend Syria... represents a dangerous step," Muallem told a packed news conference in Damascus.

Syria's opposition has asked Turkey for permission to open a representative office in the country, a Turkish diplomat said Monday.

The Syrian National Council, the country's largest and most representative opposition grouping, put the request to Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during talks on Sunday, the diplomat said.

Speaker Nabih Berri stated that the Arab League decision on Syria can be modified in order to avoid any negative repercussions it may create.

He told al-Joumhouriya newspaper in remarks published on Monday that he fears that Lebanon may incur the consequences of the Arab League’s decision to suspend Syria’s membership.

Jassem Merhi al-Jassem, one of four brothers kidnapped in Lebanon a few months ago, has been killed in Syrian captivity, reported the daily An Nahar on Monday.

Nabil Halabi, head of the Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, revealed that Jassem was kidnapped in Beirut and transported with his three brothers to Syria through a vehicle from the Syrian Embassy.