"We cannot remain silent in the face of the violence," Arab League chief Nabil El-Araby said in an opening address.

Syria's delegate to the Cairo-based organization, Yussef Ahmad, however, insisted the situation was returning to "calm and stability" and raised questions over the timing of the meeting. "The timing is strange and suspect," Ahmad said, linking the talks to US and European attempts to pass a UN Security Council resolution against the Syrian leadership.

Qatar Premier Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, the chair of the meeting, insisted it was not convened "under any agenda but to show concern for Syria and the Syrian people. Your brothers want to help."

Gulf states requested the meeting to discuss "the situation in Syria, which has deteriorated sharply, particularly in its humanitarian dimensions, and steps that could help end the bloodshed and halt the machine of violence."

Before the opening of the talks at the Cairo-based Arab League, several ministers met informally at a hotel with El-Araby. One diplomat who took part said the participants were divided on the means to halt the bloodshed since anti-regime protests broke out in mid-March.

Syria's suspension and the recognition of an opposition Syrian National Council were raised "but the majority believed it necessary to give El-Araby a chance" to encourage the implementation of rapid reforms, he said.

They also rejected any foreign intervention.

The Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Sept. 13 and called on the Syrian authorities to "immediately stop the bloodshed," drawing a testy response from Damascus.

The Arab League chief earlier met Syrian President Bashar Assad and presented him with a 13-point document outlining Arab proposals for reform.

In a joint statement, a coalition of 121 Arab and international rights groups on Sunday urged the League to take action to prevent Syria from sliding into civil war. They called on the organization to suspend Syria's membership, downgrade Arab diplomatic missions in Damascus and to back action against Damascus at the UN Security Council.

Suspension is unlikely to have a direct, tangible impact on Syria, but it would still constitute a major blow to Assad's embattled regime by stripping Damascus of its Arab support and further deepening its isolation.

Despite the growing international chorus for an end to the crisis, Assad has shown no sign of backing down or easing his campaign to crush the 7-month-old uprising. On Sunday, security forces opened fire on a funeral for a slain activist in the east, while forces elsewhere arrested at least 44 people in the capital's suburbs in house-to-house raids Sunday and more than 900 people in the central city of Homs over the past week.