Syria's government accepted a regionally brokered plan to resolve the country's deadly eight-month-old conflict and begin talks with the opposition, an Arab League official announced Wednesday night, offering the first potential endgame to Syria's worsening crisis.

The plan, brokered by the Arab League, requires Syria's embattled president Bashar al-Assad to immediately withdraw his security forces from the nation's cities, allow foreign and domestic media unfettered access to the country and free political prisoners, said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar.

The deal represents the first significant signal that President Assad's regime is prepared to compromise to end a standoff between his government and protesters that has left more than 3,000 Syrians dead.

Some members of Syria's opposition, who have been cynical of Mr. Assad's commitment to any negotiated resolution, cautiously greeted the deal, which calls for the Syrian regime to begin talks with the opposition within two weeks.

These activists saw the announcement as a positive development, as long as it would result in an immediate halt in the violence—a question that remained open, as activists reported more than two dozen deaths Wednesday amid ongoing violence. Others saw the Arab League deliberations as little more than a gambit by the regime to buy time before launching further crackdowns.