Syria asked the head of the Arab League to put off his visit to Damascus, the state-run Syrian News Agency SANA reported Wednesday.
"Syria asked the Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi to postpone his visit to Damascus for objective reasons he was informed of," SANA said.
The report did not elaborate but sources close to Syrians in Beirut told the German Press Agency dpa that Damascus was "unhappy" with an initiative al-Arabi was preparing to take with him, DPA reported.
The proposal reportedly calls for an end to the bloodshed, the introduction of political pluralism and free elections in 2014.
Protests in Syria began in March calling for more freedoms, political reform and the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. The government launched a violent crackdown on demonstrators, leaving at least 2,200 people dead so far.
The secretary general was expected to meet with al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Wednesday, with no plans for meetings with any opposition figures.
The Arab League initiative was adopted by Arab foreign ministers at an emergency meeting in Cairo last month.