December 27, 2011
Top of the Agenda: Arab Monitors in Syria
Fifty Arab League observers arrived in Syria on Monday night to monitor the implementation of a peace deal (NYT) by President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian leader has committed to an Arab League plan to halt a nearly ten-month-old crackdown on anti-government protesters and opposition forces.
The monitors traveled Tuesday to the city of Homs, where activists said at least thirty people were killed (BBC) in clashes with Syrian security forces a day prior. Around thirty thousand Syrians protested (Telegraph) on the streets of Homs as the observers visited, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The Arab League plan requires the Assad regime to withdraw its troops from towns (al-Jazeera) and residential districts, cease violence against civilians, and release jailed political prisoners.
