Violence on hold

A group of 50 Arab League monitors, headed by Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, have arrived in the Syrian city of Homs a day after 34 people were reportedly killed during violence between security forces and anti-government protesters.

As observers arrived, government tanks were seen leaving Homs.

And according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London between 20-30,000 people have held a "sit-in" in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood of Homs.

The city has been the site of hundreds of deaths during a nine-month crackdown. The United Nations says at least 5,000 people have died since March.

The Arab League mission is part of a deal agreed to last week with President Bashar al-Assad's government.

They aim to monitor al-Assad's pledge to stop the military action against protesters and started by meeting the governor of Homs.

Tanks roll out

Opposition activists are reported to have witnessed 11 tanks leaving Homs on Tuesday after their attack on the city earlier in the week.

They also say other tanks are being hidden.

"My house is on the eastern entrance of Baba Amr and I saw six tanks leave the neighborhood at 8 in the morning," said Homs activist Mohamed Saleh.

Before the reports of fresh violence in Homs on Monday, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) had appealed for the Arab League observers to visit the hotspot immediately.

"Since early this morning, Baba Amr has been under a tight siege and the threat of military invasion by an estimated 4,000 soldiers," said a statement from the SNC.

"The Syrian National Council demands that the Arab League observers go to Homs immediately, specifically to the besieged neighborhoods, to fulfill their stated mission," it added.

Call for UN support

The Paris-based leader of the SNC, Burhan Ghalioun, called on the league to involve the United Nations. Some opposition groups have expressed concern that the Arab League is not strong enough to fully implement its "road map" for peace.

"I call upon the Arab League to ask the Security Council to adopt its plan in order to increase possibilities of its success and avoid giving the regime an opportunity not to carry out its obligations," Ghalioun said in a televised message.

"The barbaric massacre must stop now."

General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, a veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer who is heading the Arab observer mission, arrived in the Syrian capital in advance of other observers on Sunday. A total of 150 Arab monitors are due to arrive in Damascus by the end of the month.

Syria has suffered daily bloodshed for months amid an increasingly violent uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

On Friday, a twin suicide bomb attack left 44 people dead in Damascus, with the government attributing the attack to al Qaeda and rebels blaming the regime itself.

Author: Zulfikar Abbany, Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Andreas Illmer