Syria observers

Arab League foreign ministers have decided to allow a team of monitors to complete their one-month mission in Syria. The mission is supposed to end the regime's violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that has killed thousands in the last 10 months.

"The observers will continue their mission and will pursue it in full honesty," Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi told a press conference following a meeting in Cairo on Sunday.

"I hope the Syrian leadership will take firm decisions to stop the bloodbath," Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim told reporters. "But we are not satisfied up until now."

The Arab League meeting had been called so that the chief of the mission, Sudanese General Mohamed al-Dabi, would report about the performance of the observers in Syria. The report itself was not made available to the public.

A statement released following the meeting called on the Syrian government and all armed groups to stop all acts of violence.

Critics slam mission as failure

The talks in Cairo came two weeks after Arab League observers first entered Syria to determine whether the regime of President Bashar al-Assad was complying with the terms of a peace plan.

Yet the mission has been criticized for failing to stem a crackdown on dissent by Assad's forces. Human rights organizations and Syrian opposition groups say the monitors have been outmaneuvered by the Syrian regime. Critics of the mission have been calling for it to pull out.

"The Arab League should admit that its observer mission has failed," Bassima Kadamani of the opposition Syrian National Council said ahead of the meeting. "And it should hand over the task to the United Nations."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for all violence to stop immediately and offered to train the Arab League observers, but stopped short of suggesting UN officials could take over.

Arab League admits mistakes

The Arab League has admitted to "mistakes" but stood by the mission, saying it had secured the release of prisoners and a withdrawal of tanks from cities.

The Sunday meeting came amid further violence in Syria, with human rights groups claiming that around 40 civilians were killed over the weekend. Casualty figures are difficult to confirm as foreign journalists are not permitted to report independently from the country.

According to United Nations estimates, more than 5,000 people have been killed since protests against the Assad regime began last March.

Author: Andreas Illmer (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Ben Knight