China on Tuesday welcomed the signing of a protocol on foreign observers between Syria and the Arab League (AL).
China hoped the protocol could be faithfully implemented so as to create conditions for pushing forward the process of settling the Syria issue under the AL frame, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a daily press conference.
Syria signed the AL observer mission deal Monday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The protocol allows a suggested 100 observers to enter various places in Syria to conduct a field study of the situation, Xinhua reported.
AL Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said the protocol is not the end, but a way to monitor the implementation of a peace initiative, and it does not mean an immediate suspension of the sanctions imposed on Syria for its earlier refusal to an observer mission.