Egypt firmly backs Syria change but not from outside

* Cairo's comments the strongest yet on Syria

* Egypt nervous Arab plan leaves door open to intervention

CAIRO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Egypt called on Wednesday

for change in Syria that met its people's demands, Cairo's

strongest language yet on the crisis, though it ruled out

supporting outside military intervention.

Egypt has backed Arab League resolutions demanding President

Bashar al-Assad step aside but diplomats say it is wary of a

diplomatic push from Gulf states, whose latest plan to end the

crisis could open the door to arms shipments to the opposition.

"The situation in Syria is deteriorating quickly ... The

time has come for the required change to avoid a complete

explosion in the situation in Syria," Foreign Minister Mohamed

Kamel Amr said.

Egypt has long been a driving force in the region but has

kept a lower profile on Syria as it deals with its own political

turmoil. In contrast, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been flexing

their diplomatic muscles, keen to end Assad's alliance with

regional rival Iran.

Amr called for "peaceful and real change that responds to

the aspirations of the Syrian people" and the implementation of

an Arab peace plan. But he said the crisis needed an Arab

solution and "rejected military intervention".

Commenting on the statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr

Rushdy said: "This is the strongest language used from Egypt to

describe the situation in Syria but Egypt does not want any

military intervention from any party."

Western states launched airstrikes on Libya during an

uprising there but have shown no appetite for similar action in

Syria, and Russia and China have used their veto powers to block

a U.N. Security Council resolution based on the Arab peace plan.

That double veto prompted Arab League ministers, pushed by

Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to approve a resolution at a meeting on

Sunday in Cairo that sent the issue back to the United Nations

with a call for a U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force.

They also called for offering political and "material

support" for the opposition, language that diplomats said left

room for Arabs to supply weapons in future, if they chose.

Diplomats said Egypt was uncomfortable with the language.

Although Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a

popular uprising last year, army generals who backed him are

still in charge and are wary of any intervention in Arab states.

Egypt will join other Arab states and Western powers in

Tunisia on Feb. 24 at a meeting of the so-called "Friends of

Syria" group, a gathering aimed at seeking to build

international cooperation after the U.N. veto.

Rushdy said Egypt would be there to emphasise support for

the Arab peace plan, which includes a call for Assad to hand

power to a deputy who would start talks with the opposition.

Assad's opponents have rejected any such discussions.

The meeting may also discuss whether they should recognise

the opposition, rather than Assad, although diplomats say

divisions in the opposition ranks and question marks over

whether the biggest grouping, the Syrian National Council,

represented people inside Syria could hinder such recognition

(Reporting by Edmund Blair and Ayman Samir; Editing by Ben

Harding)