BEIRUT: Lebanon voted against a decision by the Arab League Saturday to suspend Syria in four days time should Damascus fail to end the country’s crisis.

Reading a statement, Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassem al-Thani, said the decision, which would take effect on Nov. 16, had been passed after 18 countries voted in favor. Iraq abstained from the decision while Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against.

Bin Jassem said the League had decided “to suspend Syrian delegations’ activities in Arab League meetings” if Damascus continued to stall the Arab initiative, referring to a Nov. 2 peace bid that called for the withdrawal of the Syrian Army from streets, an end to the crackdown on protesters, the release of all political prisoners and the launch of dialogue between the opposition and the government within two weeks.

Bin Jassem, who was speaking to reporters at League’s headquarters in Cairo, also said the Arab body had decided to implement “economic and political sanctions against the Syrian government,” and had urged member states to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus.

Media reports quoted Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour as saying the decision by the League was counterproductive and could lead to further dangers.

“The decisions that were issued by the Arab League will not help reach a solution. In fact it will push things toward more dangerous situations. This is what we focused on: that Syria’s security means security for the region,” several media outlets quoted Mansour as saying.

“What was taken in terms of decisions is a dangerous sign because they are against a founding member of the League,” he added.

In one of the first reactions to the news by a March 14 coalition member, MP Marwan Hamadeh said the decision was a positive move by the Arab body, but criticized Lebanon’s decision to vote against Syria’s suspension.

Hamadeh, who described the decision by the Lebanese delegation in Cairo as “shameful,” also called on the government to resign immediately.

“[I call for] on this government, which that has put us in Arab isolation in addition to its own national isolation, to resign immediately,” Hamadeh said in a statement.

Lebanon has repeatedly said that it must seek to isolate itself from decisions that might harm Syria.

During his first visit to the United Kingdom last week, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon’s stability depended on taking a neutral stance toward the unrest in Syria.

“The third [key factor for stability] in Lebanon is the issue of Syria and the principle here is to keep ourselves out of anything that harms Lebanon’s internal interests. We are working with this goal of protecting our nation, both its people and territory, and for peace,” Mikati said a day before meeting U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron in London on Nov. 7.

The UN says some 3,500 Syrians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a crackdown by Damascus on protesters calling for reforms in the Arab country which has been under Baath Party rule for almost five decades. Syrian authorities deny targeting civilians, blaming “armed gangs” for the deaths.