Call to withdraw

A pan-Arab advisory body has called on the Arab League to withdraw a team of observers sent to Syria to monitor the implementation of a peace plan.

A statement released by Salem al-Diqbasi, the Kuwaiti speaker of the Arab Parliament called on the head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi to "immediately pull out the Arab observers, considering the continued killing of innocent civilians by the Syrian regime."

The Arab Parliament is a committee made up of 88 lawmakers and advisors from 22 Arab states. Its recommendations are not binding.

The observers' mission is to verify whether the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad is complying with the terms of an Arab League plan to end nine months of bloodshed. The terms of the plan include a requirement that Syria remove its security forces and heavy weapons from populated areas and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country.

Lack of compliance 

However, in his statement, Deqbasi essentially declared the month-long monitoring mission a failure, just a week after it had begun.

"The killing of children and the violation of human rights law is happening in the presence of Arab League monitors, raising the fury of Arab people." Deqbasi said.

"The mission of the Arab League team has missed its aim of stopping the killing of children and ensuring the withdrawal of troops from the Syrian streets, giving the Syrian regime a cover to commit inhumane acts under the noses of the Arab League observers," he added.

Human rights organizations have reported the killings of more than 150 people since the first Arab League observers entered the country early last week. This is difficult to verify due to a ban on foreign journalists from reporting from Syria.

Official Syrian media reported that the 50 or so Arab League monitors who are already in the country toured several trouble spots on Sunday. According to an Arab League official in Cairo, 20 more were expected to join them later in the week.

Fresh protests

Despite the ongoing crackdown, pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in a number of Syrian cities on Sunday, including Homs, Daraa, Idlib and Aleppo.

Opposition groups said three people, including a seven-year-old child, were killed after security forces opened fire on them in Hama province.

The United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since Assad's forces began a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators last March.

Author: Chuck Penfold (AFP, dpa, AP)
Editor: Andreas Illmer