The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) will hold an extraordinary meeting on Jan. 13 during which Arab foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Egyptian official news agency MENA reported.

"The Arab foreign ministers will discuss necessary assistance for the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the impact of the Syrian crisis on neighboring countries including Lebanon," MENA quoted Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli as saying.

Arab foreign ministers last met in Cairo early November 2012, during which they recognized the newly-formed opposition Syrian National Coalition as the representative of the Syrian people.

The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries has reached 576,721 as of Dec. 31, 2012, over 180,000 of whom are living in Lebanon, according to the latest report of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Ben Helli noted that the meeting in Cairo would also tackle the Palestinian issue and the financial crisis facing the Palestinians, as well as the decision of postponing the UN conference on freeing the Middle East of mass destruction weapons that was scheduled to be held in December 2012 in Finland.

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