Al-Qaida chief urges outside help for Syrian rebels

Saudi Arabia denied reports in Saudi media that it has formally presented a new resolution on Syria to the United Nations General Assembly Saudi state news agency SPA cited an official at the foreign ministry as saying on Sunday.    

"No provision of any draft resolution on behalf of the Kingdom has been presented to the General Assembly," he told SPA.    

On Friday, King Abdullah said the Russian and Chinese veto of a U.N. resolution on Syria was an "unfavorable" move and diplomats said Saudi Arabia circulated a draft resolution backing an Arab peace plan among members of the Assembly.  

On the other hand the head of al-Qaida is calling on Muslims across the Arab world and beyond to support rebels in Syria who are seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, and says they cannot depend on the West for help.    

In a new videotaped statement, Ayman al-Zawahri calls on Muslims in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to join the uprising against Assad's "pernicious, cancerous regime."       

The 8-minute video was posted on extremist websites late Saturday.

A copy of the video was provided Sunday by the SITE Intel Group, a U.S.-based organization that monitors militant messages.       

A senior Iraqi intelligence official says al-Qaida-linked fighters already are flowing from Iraq to Syria.       

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to brief the media.           

Meanwhile Arab League officials said that the 22-member group is considering reviving its suspended observer mission in Syria, expanding it to include monitors from non-Arab, Muslim nations and maybe involvement by the United Nations.       

The officials say the proposal will be discussed in a meeting in Cairo on Sunday by a "Syria Group" made up of seven member states led by Qatar.

The group will make recommendations to an Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in the Egyptian capital later on Sunday.       

The observer’s mission was suspended after a surge in violence in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's regime has launched a harsh crackdown on an uprising that began 11 months ago.       

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposals had not yet been adopted.