'AL, tool dragging Syria crisis to UNSC'

In a news conference in the capital Damascus on Sunday, Muallem said that an Arab League plan to send observers into the country needed clarification before Syria signs on.

"I would like to make the situation clear between us so that ... a proper decision is taken. The situation does not bear or require hastiness or reaction," the Syrian foreign minister said.

He added, "There is no room for hasty decisions but rational thinking is needed because there are some parts of the Arab world which are using the Arab League as a tool to reach the Security Council."

He also criticized the AL stance on Syria, and stressed that "armed groups" were responsible for the unrest in his country.

"The Arab League, they ignore the presence of armed groups, the terrorist armed groups who kill the people, and if they would recognize the presence of such groups they would not have conducted themselves in the way they are behaving," he said.

Muallem gave assurances that there would not be a civil war in Syria.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the country would not bow down to foreign pressure and that any military intervention in Syria would have "very dire" consequences.

"The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue," Assad told The Sunday Times.

He added, "However, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it."

Assad vowed he would personally fight and die to resist foreign forces. He also accused the Arab League of helping pave the way for Western intervention.

Unrest started in Syria in mid-March, claiming the lives of hundreds of people, including members of the security forces.

Damascus says the unrest has been largely incited by elements that are well-paid and armed by foreign powers. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

The opposition and Western countries accuse Syrian security forces of being behind the killings in the country, but the government blames what it describes as outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups for the deadly violence, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.