The Arab League agreed on a path forward in Syria on Sunday that instructs President Bashar al-Assad to delegate powers to his vice president following the formation of a national unity government.

It called for the Syrian government to start a dialogue with the opposition within two weeks, and for the new government to be formed within two months.

The unity government should prepare to elect a council, within three months, that will write a constitution, the Arab League said. It should also prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.

Details of the plan were announced by Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani at a press conference in Cairo.

"The president will delegate his first vice president the full power to work with national unity government to enable it to perform its task in the transitional period," he said.

The Arab League will take its plan to the United Nations in a bid to build international support. The initiative does not back military intervention in Syria.

Earlier in the day, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby said the group will request an extension of its monitoring mission in Syria and an increase in the number of observers there.

The mission was scheduled to end last Thursday. It was not clear whether Syrian officials would accept the offer, but the Arab League said later that its mission would continue with a higher number of monitors.

The secretary-general said the Syrian government has not complied with some parts of an Arab League agreement aimed at ending a violent crackdown on protesters. Syrian officials are treating the crisis as a security problem, he said, noting that armed opposition factions controlling some areas made it difficult for observers to do their jobs.

But Arab League monitors have seen some aspects of the situation improve, he said.

"The presence of the Arab monitors provided security to opposition parties, which held an increase in number of peaceful protests ... in the areas where the monitors were present," el-Araby said.

Before el-Araby's statement, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said his nation planned to withdraw its members of the observer team, according to an Arab League official. Prince Saud al-Faisal told Arab League foreign ministers that "Syria did not comply with the Arab resolution plan," according to the Arab League official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Earlier Sunday, a five-nation committee led by Qatar requested a one-month extension of the mission from the foreign ministers of the league's 22 member states.

The committee made its request after reviewing a report submitted by Sudanese Lt. Gen. Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi, head of the league's monitoring mission in Syria.

Before leaving Damascus for the meeting in Cairo, al-Dabi said the mission of the monitoring group is "not to stop the killing and violence in Syria but to investigate the Syrian government's execution of the article of the Arab plan aimed at solving the Syrian crisis."

The Arab League has called on President al-Assad's regime to stop violence against civilians, free political detainees, remove tanks and weapons from cities and allow outsiders, including the international news media, to travel freely in Syria.

Senior Arab League diplomats said the Syrian government has not accepted or rejected the possibility of a one-month extension.

Some worry the observers haven't been allowed to see the full situation in Syria.

Members of the opposition Syrian National Council met Saturday with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby. The council has demanded that the mission document "the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime against civilians in all cities and towns," the group said in a statement.

"We requested (el-Araby) to raise the Syria file to the U.N. Security Council as soon as possible to protect the lives and dignity of the Syrian people," SNC senior official Walid Buni said Saturday. "We will have to wait until the final Arab (League) monitor's report is discussed (Sunday), but we already know what it contains and do not think it reflects the situation on the ground."

Arab League official Ali Jaroush said the mission has gained momentum and that there is "a general inclination" to extend it for another month, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

But the presence of Arab League monitors in the country hasn't quelled daily reports of deadly violence.

At least 59 people were found dead across Syria on Saturday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition activist group.

They include 30 unidentified corpses found at the National Hospital in Idlib and at least 16 dead from a bus explosion in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria..

CNN cannot confirm the claims by opposition groups of violence and deaths, as Syria's government has limited access by foreign journalists.

For more than 10 months, Syria has been engulfed by an anti-government public uprising and a brutal security crackdown against protesters. The United Nations last month estimated well over 5,000 deaths since mid-March. Opposition groups estimate more than 6,000 people have died.

While activists blame the violence on al-Assad's regime, the government says terrorists have been responsible for the bloodshed.

Both sides reported the deadly bus bombing Saturday.

The LCC said the bus went over a mine, killing at least 16 people and wounding many more. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported that "an armed terrorist group" was responsible for the attack, killing 14 people and wounding 26 others.

Mohamed Hamado, a Free Syrian Army lieutenant colonel, said civilians moving toward the Turkish-Syrian border were ambushed by Syrian security forces using tanks and armed personal carriers near the town of Kherbeit Al Joz.

The Free Syrian Army, which includes defected regime soldiers, fought with the Syrian army and injured and killed about 24 soldiers, Hamado said. "We then retreated to safer positions."