BEIRUT (AP) ― Armed clashes erupted in Syria, killing at least 15 civilians and six government troops, activists said. Isolated and faced with a possible civil war, Syria appeared to be bending toward allowing Arab League observers in as a step toward ending the conflict.

The Al-Arabiya TV channel said it had information from the Qatari prime minister that Syrian President Bashar Assad will sign an observer deal but gave no further details. Last month Syria agreed to an Arab League plan but balked at its implementation.

The foreign minister of Oman, speaking to reporters ahead of a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Saudi Arabia, also said Sunday he is “optimistic” that Syria will sign the protocol within 24 hours “and save the Arab world from foreign intervention.”

The Arab League has given Syria until Wednesday to sign a protocol to allow observers into the country, or else it will likely turn to the U.N. Security Council for action to try to end the deadly violence against regime opponents.

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA quoted Assad Sunday as saying in front of an Iraqi delegation that Syria has “dealt positively with proposals presented because it’s in (Syria’s) interest for the world to know what is happening in Syria.”

Syria has in the past said it would accept to have the monitors but then placed conditions that were rejected by the Arab League.

Syria’s foreign minister was scheduled to hold a news conference Monday, when he is expected to announce Syria’s position.