Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos

9 March 2012 –

Watch video here.

Wednesday, 7th March 2012 13:31

A UN humanitarian chief and a Syrian Red Crescent team of aid workers have been allowed into the devastated Baba Amr district of Homs but most civilians had already fled.

It comes as an International Red Cross convoy was still unable to go there since arriving in the city last Friday - a day after rebel fighters left following nearly a month of shelling by government forces.

UN official Baroness Valerie Amos went to the district as part of a three-day mission to try to persuade Syrian authorities to grant full access to aid workers into the towns and cities affected by fighting so they can deliver life-saving assistance to civilians.

The International Red Cross said most Baba Amr residents had left for areas such as Abel that have already been visited by the organisation.

Their teams provided assistance to 450 families, about 2,700 people, in Abel during the day.

Baroness Amos has also held talks with foreign minister Walid Moualem in the capital Damascus.

He said she could visit anywhere in Syria, according to her spokeswoman, who added Ms Amos and her team had heard gunfire while they were in Baba Amr.

“She (Amos) said that security was obviously an issue, and they heard gunfire while they were there,” said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“The parts of Baba Amr that they saw, she said they were pretty devastated.”

International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman Sean Maguire confirmed the Syrian Red Crescent team had been allowed in to Baba Amr, but said the Red Cross had not entered the area.

Baroness Amos had been denied access to the country for more than a week. Her mission will end just as the new UN/Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, arrives.

She says her aim is to “urge all sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies”.

The British Ambassador to Damascus, Simon Collis, said: “I hope her visit is the beginning of something, but I can’t help noticing that the regime always wants to haggle.”

Diplomatically, little is expected to happen until Mr Annan’s visit and even that will probably just be a series of preliminary meetings.

Recent attempts to put together a new UN Security Council resolution may be put on hold until he reports back to New York.

The Russians maintain that their position that there should be no outside interference in Syria has not changed and US President Barack Obama has repeated his stance that unilateral US military intervention would be a mistake.

With the Gulf countries’ recent step, the noose is tightening around the neck of Assad

In a firm move, Gulf states announced that they would withdraw their monitors from Syria thus sending a clear message that the Assad regime has failed to comply with the Arab League’s plan to put an end to the bloody crackdown on protesters. Evidently, the common stand taken by the Gulf countries cannot be more striking. Withdrawing their monitors from Syria is tantamount to saying that the Gulf countries are not going to be part of Assad’s game of buying time while Syrian people are subject to unremitting killing.

It seems that Assad is not in touch with reality. While he has no chance to stay in power as all of his allies in the region are under attack, he still behaves as if he is invincible! He fools nobody but himself when he keeps talking about an external conspiracy that targets his regime.

In a last-ditch attempt to avoid internationalization of the Syrian crisis, the Arab League proposed a road map that states that Assad transfer power to his deputy and a new national government is formed within two months. Presidential and parliamentary elections would be held after that. To the Arabs, this is the best way of curbing violence and averting international intervention. Yet the Syrian regime dismissed it as a “flagrant” violation of Syrian sovereignty.

Against this backdrop, the Gulf states decided to act swiftly by withdrawing all of their monitors (55 of the 165 monitors sent to Syria). Interestingly, Damascus is still employing the same boring false pretexts. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem assailed the road plan was a “plot” against his country abetted by the Arabs. He added that his country would continue targeting “armed terrorist gangs.” If anything, this last statement indicates clearly that the Syrian regimes has reached the no-return point and that it has no real intention to end the long ten-month bloody crackdown on people.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Syrian crisis is on its way to get internationalized. The Gulf states urged the Security Council to take what it takes to force Assad to relinquish power. But Syria is still relying on two allies in the Security Council - China and Russia - to block any effort to that effect. In his dismissive response to the call for taking the file to the Security Council, Walid Moallem said that Arabs could take the whole file to “New York or to the moon, as long as we don’t have to pay for their ticket…Russia will not agree on the foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs, and this is a red line.”

With the Gulf countries’ recent step, the noose is tightening around the neck of Assad. They offered him a safe exist from Syria but it seems that he is not the one who calls the shots in Damascus. The security circle around him is looking for a showdown with all. Yet, the Syrian regime does not understand that Russia is open to a new initiative that can force Assad to leave. Russia is against military intervention and the West has affirmed its intentions not to interfere. But Russia cannot protect the isolated regime forever.  Equally important, China has recently signed an oil deal with Saudi Arabia thus getting closer to the Gulf countries’ position while moving away from Iran. In the Arab League’s deliberation on the new road map, Iraq took a positive step by agreeing to the road map. This might be coordinated with Tehran and thus reflecting a new Iranian approach. For sure, this was bad news for the Syrian regime.

All in all, the Arabs have given the regime in Syria every possible chance to put a cap on violence and embark upon genuine reform. Yet, the regime kept the same line dismissing all efforts to end the crisis. Clearly, Assad and his cronies have failed miserably in reading the new changes that have swept the region. Their miscalculation could not be more striking. While stronger regimes fell under the pressure of people, Assad kept thinking that his regime was different and that his allies from within and from without would stand up to a “Western-Zionist” conspiracy. Finally, the Gulf states are fed up and thus they refuse to play the role of a fake witness to the daily killing of Syrians. In brief, the countdown of change in Syria started once Saudi Arabia announced its intention not to take part in the Arab League mission in Syria. Now it remains to be seen how the rest of the Arab countries are going to behave. Can they continue with a plan without an active Gulf participation? I doubt!

The head of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani are to head to the UN on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan on Syria.

Six Persian Gulf nations said they will withdraw their monitors as they sought U.N. intervention to remove Assad from power.

Funny Bashar Cartoon #Syria

The opposition Syrian National Council appealed Sunday for the Arab League to immediately send observers to the besieged city of Homs and other hotspots of a bloody crackdown on dissent reported AFP.

The leader of Syria’s main opposition group is also urging the Arab League to push for U.N. involvement in seeking an end to the bloodshed, according to The Associated Press.

“Since early this morning, the (Homs) neighborhood of Baba Amr has been under a tight siege and the threat of military invasion by an estimated 4,000 soldiers,” the SNC said in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia.

“This is in addition to the nonstop bombing of Homs that has been going on for days,” said the council, the main umbrella group of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

The central city of Homs has been a focal point of the Assad government’s crackdown on nine months of anti-regime demonstrations, as well as the site of fierce clashes between the army and mutinous soldiers.

Burhan Ghalioun, the Paris-based leader of the SNC, made the plea in a televised speech marking Christmas.

The Arab League has begun sending observers into Syria to monitor its compliance with a plan demanding an end to the regime’s crackdown on political opponents. The 22-member bloc has warned that it could turn to the U.N. Security Council to help stop the violence that began in March.

An advance team of Arab League monitors arrived in Damascus on Thursday to pave the way for an observer mission to oversee a deal to end the crackdown, which the U.N. estimates has killed more than 5,000 people since March.

“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 said in the statement.

“In addition, we demand that the observers go to all the hotspots in Syria, or withdraw and conclude their mission if it is not possible for them to do so.

“We hold the Arab League and the international community accountable for the massacres and bloodshed committed by the regime in Syria,” said the opposition group.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said he expects the Arab League observers to vindicate his government’s contention that the violence in the country is the work of “armed terrorists”.

Western governments and rights watchdogs blame the Assad regime for the bloodshed.

Opposition leaders charge that Syria agreed to the mission after weeks of prevarication in a “ploy” to head off a League threat to go to the U.N. Security Council over the crackdown.

The Arab League plan demands the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country.

DAMASCUS: Thousands of people turned out on Saturday for prayers in memory of the 44 people killed by suicide bombers in the capital as charge and counter-charge swirled over who was behind the attacks.

The funeral prayers, at Damascus’ central Omayyad Mosque, came as an Arab League delegation met Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to discuss the arrival of a team to oversee a deal aimed at ending nine months of bloodshed.

Mourners prayed before flag-draped coffins, while a crowd outside waved portraits of embattled President Bashar al-Assad and banners of the ruling Baath party as police stood watch.

Religious Affairs Minister Abdel Sattar al-Sayyed read out a statement from Christian and Muslim religious leaders “denouncing the criminal attacks on Friday… and the murder, destruction and sabotage” that are part of a “dangerous plot against Syria.”

“We call upon the Syrian people to be aware that Syria is being targeted, and affirm that we stand with them in the face of this plot. We reject any sort of extremism represented by terrorist organisation.”

It was the nature of that “terrorism” that was being hotly debated, amid conflicting claims about who carried out the bombings.

Within minutes of the Friday morning explosions, state television said initial enquiries held Al-Qaeda responsible.

Not long afterwards, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said “this is the gift we get from the terrorists and Al-Qaeda.”

However, the government did not release details on how it came to such a conclusion, and so quickly.

Later in the day, the opposition accused the government itself of carrying out the attacks.

Opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Council said “the Syrian regime, alone, bears all the direct responsibility for the two terrorist explosions.”

It said the government was trying to create the impression “that it faces danger coming from abroad and not a popular revolution demanding freedom and dignity.”

The Muslim Brotherhood, an influential component of the SNC, issued its own statement, in which it also pointed the finger at the regime.

“The regime gave a bloody welcome to the team of Arab observers, on the morning of Holy Friday, to cover up the weekly demonstrations across the Syrian map,” it said.

“We draw attention… to the fact that Syrian television delayed nearly an hour in broadcasting images of the incident from the time of its announcement, as the theatre director put the finishing touches on the scene, including fake blood.”

It also pointed out the speed at which the government blamed Al-Qaeda.

Adding to the confusion was what the Brotherhood said was a bogus website fabricated to resemble its own, which claimed on Saturday that the group itself had carried out the attacks and promised more.

Brotherhood spokesman Zuhair Salem said the claim was “completely fabricated under our name on the Internet,” pinning responsibility on the regime.

It was “completely orchestrated by the regime, just as the attacks were,” he added.

Hours later, the “bogus” website was no longer accessible.

Friday’s bombings, the first against the powerful security services in central Damascus since the uprising against Assad began in March, came a day after the arrival of an advance group of Arab League monitors.

The delegates met Muallem on Saturday in talks the ministry’s spokesman described as “positive.”

Arab League Assistant Secretary General Samir Seif al-Yazal, head of the advance team, said the first group of observers would leave for Damascus on Monday.

He said it would consist of more than 50 experts in politics, human rights, military matters and other issues.

The nine-member team is making logistical arrangements for the arrival of the first observers, who will eventually number between 150 and 200.

The mission is part of an Arab plan endorsed by Syria on November 2 that also calls for the withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts, a halt to violence against civilians and the release of detainees.

Muallem has said he expects the observers to vindicate his government’s contention that the unrest is the work of “armed terrorists,” not overwhelmingly peaceful protesters as maintained by the West and rights groups.

Opposition leaders charge that Syria’s agreement to the mission after weeks of prevarication was a mere “ploy” to head off a League threat to go to the UN Security Council over the crackdown, which the world body says has killed more than 5,000 people.

Syria says more than 2,000 security force personnel have been killed in attacks by rebels since March.

There was no let-up in the bloodshed on Friday with human rights activists reporting at least 21 civilians killed, most of them by security forces.

The bodies of four civilians who had been arrested were found Saturday with signs of torture in restive Homs province, activists said, urging the visiting Arab League team to document the cases.

“The corpses of four citizens were found this morning in the streets of the town of Hula and a fifth citizen was found in a critical condition,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received in Nicosia.

“Security forces and ‘Shabiha’ (pro-regime militia) groups had arrested them after midnight on Friday-Saturday in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood… There were signs of torture on the bodies of the martyrs,” the Observatory said.

The watchdog demanded that the Arab League “immediately head to the town of Hula to document this flagrant violation of human rights which is just the tip of the iceberg of what is going on in Syria.”

- AFP/wk

Syria agreed on Monday to allow observers into the country to monitor the government’s implementation of a long-delayed Arab League plan to end nine months of bloodshed, but the main Syrian opposition group quickly dismissed the move as “trickery” and a ploy to buy time to continue the crackdown that has left at least 5,000 dead.

“We’re surprised that the Arab League has given the regime opportunity after opportunity,” Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the Syrian National Council (SNC) told a press conference in Tunisia. “We want the Arab League to take a stronger stance.” Such a stance may include Arab military protection, said Ghalioun, who was speaking at the end of a weekend congress that brought many of the SNC’s 260 members together for the first time since its formation was formally announced in Turkey on Oct. 2. (See photos of protests in Syria.)

“We urge the Arab League and the United Nations to defend Syrians by establishing isolated and secure areas inside Syria,” he said. “We need to use force — even in a limited way — or for Arab protection forces to respond.”

Ghalioun’s remarks appeared to mark a break with the SNC’s long-standing rejection of foreign military intervention. Still, few countries, Arab or otherwise, have shown any willingness to put their boots on Syrian ground. “We’re searching for those boots,” joked Anwar al-Bunni, a prominent Syrian human-rights activist and member of the SNC who has done several stints in President Bashar Assad’s jails. Turkey would be expected to play an important role in the establishment of any safe zone, several SNC members said. “But the Turks need political cover,” al-Bunni said, speaking after the press conference. “An Arab and international cover. A safe zone must happen. It’s not a question of how. It’s the single way to protect our people.”

By most accounts, the SNC congress meeting achieved one of its main goals: to build its internal structure. Bureaus were created with specific tasks such as foreign relations, human rights and revolutionary support. There had been heated moments over the weekend when members reportedly almost came to blows over some of the details.

One of the meeting’s other key goals was to present a vision of post-Assad Syria. As TIME reported on Sunday, the Syrian military will have a key role to play. “We differentiate between the state and the regime,” Ghalioun said on Monday. “We want to preserve its institutions, including the military.” (Watch “Why They Protest: Egypt, Libya and Syria.”)

Radwan Ziadeh, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident and leading SNC member, acknowledged that the army chief of staff and other senior officers “are responsible for killing civilians” and have been named in a recent Human Rights Watch report listing commanders allegedly responsible for crimes against humanity. “We don’t have other options,” Ziadeh said. “We need an institution to save the country, not to go toward chaos.” The opposition has reached out to senior military commanders, he said, who are willing and ready to defect, “but first they want a safe zone to protect themselves and their families.”

Bassma Kodmani, a spokesperson for the SNC, defended the outreach strategy. “We have to offer reassuring messages to groups who are fearful,” she said. “The military in particular, we know in large part the army is a victim of a repressive machine in which it has no choice but to either shoot or take the very high risk of defecting. Under those circumstances, we can only send messages that the culture of revenge will not guide the transitional period.”

But such discussion means little until Assad is made to step down. Ghalioun said that the opposition had a three-pronged approach to making that happen: organized resistance to the regime’s thugs, continued mass protest and deepening the regime’s international isolation.

The SNC chief acknowledged the role of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group of military defectors who are engaging in armed struggle against Assad’s security forces. The leaders of the two organizations met recently in a bid to present a united front, but there are differences in their approach to the Syrian uprising, differences Ghalioun tried to play down on Monday. There was no FSA representative at the Tunisia meeting, and the SNC has repeatedly stressed the need to maintain a peaceful uprising. “We said we’d do everything to prevent our country from moving to civil war between two armies, two sects, two areas,” Ghalioun said. At the same time, he tried to characterize the FSA’s actions as self-defense: “Yes, there is violence, but there is aggression and a response to aggression. You cannot equate that.” (Read “A Meeting in Tunisia: Can Syria’s Opposition Get Its Act Together?”)

On the issue of Assad, Ghalioun said that there were “many countries, many sides” looking at providing possible exile for “this criminal.” But Assad insists that his hands are clean and that his police state has been infiltrated by rampaging armed terrorist gangs, a view reiterated on Monday by his Foreign Minister Walid Moallem at a press conference in Damascus. “Many countries do not want to admit that there are armed terrorist gangs,” Moallem said. “They will see them, they will see all of this,” he said, referring to the observer mission.

The Arab League had given Damascus until Wednesday to agree to the proposal first mooted six weeks ago, or risk having the matter go to the U.N. and possible wider international intervention. The monitors will observe whether or not Syria abides by the undertakings it has accepted, under the protocol, to withdraw its tanks and troops from the streets, release political prisoners and start talks with the opposition. Moallem said the observers were “welcome in their second home, Syria” and that the deal was for a month, after which it could be renewed. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby said that the mission would have a total of about 100 members.

Some 60 Syrian army defectors were shot dead as they tried to flee their base Monday while 40 other people were killed during clashes, as Bashar Al Assad regime’s agreed to allow an observer mission to monitor the country.

REUTERS - More than 100 people have been killed in Syria, rights activists said, as the Arab League announced an advance party would be sent to the country this week to pave the way for monitors who will try to help end nine months of violence.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that more than 60 army deserters had been shot dead by machinegun fire as they tried to flee their base, citing accounts from wounded survivors. It also counted 40 civilians shot dead across Syria in the crackdown on protests.

The British-based observatory said three soldiers had died in fighting with armed rebels backing the opposition in Idlib province. The state news agency SANA said security forces there had killed at least one “terrorist” and wounded several.

The bloodshed occurred the same day Syria agreed to let Arab states monitor its compliance with an Arab League peace agreement aimed at stopping violence against anti-government protesters.

The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died since the protests began. Syria says more than 1,100 security personnel have been killed by foreign-backed “armed terrorist gangs”.

The Arab League, which has imposed economic sanctions on Syria, had threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.

However, the executive head of the League said after the signing of a protocol on foreign observers that there was no immediate plan to lift sanctions that were imposed when Damascus at first refused outside monitors. Nabil Elaraby said observers would now determine whether Syria’s government was complying.

The League would prepare a mission to monitor compliance with an agreement that calls for troops to withdraw from cities where protests have been held, for political prisoners to be freed, and for a dialogue with opposition groups, most of whom are set on following the example of Egypt and others in ending decades of one-man rule.

Syrian opposition leaders dismissed the agreement as a new stalling tactic by President Bashar al-Assad’s government and called instead for foreign military intervention to stop Syria’s crackdown on a nine-month-old pro-democracy protest movement.

Damascus said it had been urged to sign by Russia, its long-time ally and arms supplier, which has shown signs of losing patience. Moscow praised the deal as a chance for stability.

In a further sign of international pressure, the U.N. General Assembly voted to condemn Syria’s use of force to quell protests, with Russia and China abstaining instead of voting against.

Insisting that Syria had not been forced into submission, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said he had won several unspecified modifications before signing the deal, which initially allows in observers for one month.

“The Arab League delegation’s reports will be sent to me and the League’s secretary-general at the same time, and he and I will discuss them before any other action is taken,” Moualem said. “That is the text after Syria’s modifications.”

The remarks were broadcast on Syrian television. Most foreign media have been barred from Syria this year.

‘Point of no return’

While many Arab League rulers scarcely take more heed of public opinion than Assad, they are anxious to calm the situation and avoid a civil war that could shake a region already driven by rivalries between non-Arab Shi’ite power Iran and Sunni Arab heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia.

Iran, Syria’s key backer, said the agreement to let in observers from the Arab League was “acceptable”, if not ideal.

The U.S. State Department said it was sceptical much would change.

“We are really less interested in a signed piece of paper than we are in actions to implement commitments made,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington.

With rebel fighting against the army overshadowing peaceful protests, analysts said the Arab deal would do little to change Syria’s spiralling bloodshed but indicated that Damascus was feeling the international pressure.

“The international and regional isolation is beginning to have an impact on their thinking,” said Julien Barnes-Dacey, of Control Risks in London.

“But a point of no return has been passed by both protesters and authorities. They are not going to withdraw (from protest centres) and we are not going to see the end of deaths.”

By KAREEM FAHIM and HWAIDA SAAD

Published: December 19, 2011

President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents quickly dismissed the move as a ploy, saying that the government would find ways to thwart the observers.

The agreement calls on the Syrian government to remove its forces and heavy weaponry from restive cities and to open a dialogue with opposition groups. Syria had agreed to the proposal, but had resisted signing it. It did so after both Russia, its close ally, and the Arab League threatened to bring Syria before the United Nations Security Council.

The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, called the signing “the beginning of cooperation between us and the Arab League.”

“We are keen on ending the current situation as soon as possible,” he said, speaking to reporters in Damascus on Monday.

The developments came as Syrian opposition groups and rights activists reported that dozens of people had been killed on Monday in new violence across the country. The dead included nine people in the northern province of Idlib, near the Turkish border, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of opposition organizations.

The daily death tolls, which are sometimes accompanied by videos of killings, cannot be independently confirmed. Journalists and human rights workers have been barred from moving freely around Syria, and it remains to be seen whether the observers will be able to verify the conflict’s toll, or to alter its increasingly violent trajectory.

Among the government’s opponents, doubts run deep about Syria’s willingness to comply with the spirit of the Arab League agreement. “They will try to block it or foil it by all means,” said Louay Hussein, a journalist and longtime government opponent in Damascus. “They will try, for instance, to restrict the observers’ movements in some areas under the pretext of their safety.”

Thousands of people have been killed in the government’s violent repression of the popular uprising, which erupted nine months ago. As army defectors and armed fighters have joined opponents of the government, revenge killings and sectarian violence have raised fears of a full-blown civil war.

The signing of the Arab League initiative on Monday, at the group’s headquarters in Cairo, came amid increasing opposition anger at the league’s reluctance to impose economic sanctions it had promised weeks ago.

Speaking in Cairo on Monday, the Arab League’s secretary general, Nabil al-Araby, said that an advance team would travel to Syria within a day or two and that the observers would work in teams of about 10, The Associated Press reported.

Mr. Moallem said that the observers, who would be drawn from Arab countries, would be “free” to move as they wanted “under the protection” of the state, adding that the government would inform the observers about the safety of certain areas. The observers would be able to visit “hot spots” but not military sites, he said. Their mission would last a month but could be renewed, he added.

The foreign minister suggested that the observers’ presence would vindicate the Syrian government’s assertion that the uprising was the work of armed gangs and not peaceful protesters.

“A lot of countries around the world do not want to admit that there are groups of armed terrorists,” Mr. Moallem said. “They will come to see that there are.”

Syrian activists countered that the Arab League mission would finally give them a chance to dispel that notion. “The observers will see that we are unarmed and peaceful protesters who want live in a free and democratic state,” said Ammar, a protester from Douma, north of Damascus.

“We are demonstrating for nine months, and will keep demonstrating for another month, to let our Arab brothers and the world see how peaceful our uprising is,” he said.

Also on Monday, Mr. Assad’s government released Razan Ghazzawi, a prominent blogger and antigovernment activist who was arrested on Dec. 4 on her way to Jordan. Ms. Ghazzawi, who has documented human rights abuses by the government on her blog, Razaniyyat, faces up to 15 years in prison on charges that include spreading false information and weakening the sentiment of nationalism.

On Monday night, Ms. Ghazzawi wrote on her Twitter feed about her detention. “Psychological torture has been the worst,” she wrote. “They make you believe that your friends betrayed you.”

20 December 2011 BEIRUT - Syria has agreed to an Arab League plan to send foreign monitors, bowing to growing international pressure to end its bloody crackdown on a nine-month uprising. However the opposition saw the deal as a stalling tactic, especially given reports by activists that more than 100 people were killed on the same day.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said Monday in Cairo that an initial mission headed by one of his assistants will go to Syria within a day or two to discuss plans for 500 observers to eventually deploy around the country. He said they will be in small groups of at least 10 and each team will go to a different location.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Moallem rejected accusations the regime was trying to stall, even though it delayed the monitoring agreement for weeks.

‘The signing of the protocol is the beginning of cooperation between us and the Arab League, and we will welcome the Arab League observers,’ he told reporters in Damascus.

He said the observers will have a one-month mandate that can be extended by another month if both sides agree. The observers will be ‘free’ in their movements and ‘under the protection of the Syrian government,’ he said. But they will not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites.

The Arab League plan calls for removing Syrian forces and heavy weapons from city streets, starting talks with opposition leaders and allowing human rights workers and journalists into the country, along with observers from member countries.

President Bashar Assad’s regime accepted the monitors after Arab leaders warned they would turn to the UN Security Council to try to end the crackdown that the UN says has killed at least 5,000 people since March.

Pressure from Syria’s longtime ally Russia clearly played a role in the decision to allow observers.

Al-Moallem suggested that Damascus had agreed to sign on the advice of Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council. Two months ago, Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed Security Council resolution condemning the bloodshed in Syria. But Moscow said last week it would work on a draft resolution at the UN that criticises Syria for using disproportionate force against protesters.

The UN General Assembly on Monday condemned human rights violations by Assad’s government, calling for an immediate end to violence and implementation of the Arab League plan ‘without further delay.’

Violence has escalated in recent weeks in Syria with more frequent armed clashes between military defectors and security forces. The increasing militarization of the conflict has raised fears the country is sliding toward civil war.

Activists said security forces killed up to 70 army defectors Monday as they were deserting their military posts near the Turkish border. At least 30 other people died in other violence across the country, the activists said. If accurate, it would be one of the heaviest daily tolls of the entire revolt.

Security forces shot and killed at least 20 people in the southern province of Daraa, in central Syria’s Homs region and in the country’s north. One person was killed when security forces opened fire on thousands of mourners in Damascus’ central neighborhood of Midan. The mourners were attending the funeral of a child who was gunned down by security forces a day earlier.

Syria has placed severe restrictions on journalists, and the reports by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Revolution General Commission activist group could not be independently confirmed.

By signing onto the Arab League plan, the Syrian regime stands to gain more time and to avert — for now at least — the possibility of wider international involvement in the crisis. But critics are skeptical that the regime will allow full, unrestricted access to trouble spots and said it was likely just a delaying tactic.

Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of Syria’s main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, accused the Assad regime of lying and said the signing was ‘worthless’ in light of the brutal crackdown daily.

‘The Syrian regime is maneuvering and wants to buy time,’ he said in Tunisia, where the group has been holding a three-day conference aimed at unifying Syria’s fragmented opposition.

Ghalioun called for Arab military intervention to protect civilians and the creation of humanitarian corridors to deliver aid.

A Syrian-based anti-regime activist who identifies himself as Abu Hamza said the Syrian regime ‘has signed something it cannot implement.’ He said if the government withdraws the military from the streets, mass demonstrations will take pace throughout the country.

‘This will automatically lead to the downfall of the regime,’ Abu Hamza said, declining to give his real name for fear of retribution.

The regime claims armed gangs and terrorists are behind the uprising, not protesters seeking more freedoms in one of the most totalitarian regimes in the Middle East.

Dozens of army deserters have been shot dead by Syrian troops as they tried to flee their bases and join anti-government protests, reports say.

Activists say more than 900 people have died while Syria wavered on whether to agree to the Arab plan

Activist groups said more than 70 defectors were gunned down in the north-western Idlib province.

They said Monday’s death toll across the country could exceed 110 - which if true would make it one of the deadliest days of the uprising.

Damascus earlier agreed to an Arab League deal to allow monitors in.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the Arab League had accepted amendments demanded by Damascus.

The Arab League said an advance team of observers would go to Syria this week.

In a separate development, the UN General Assembly voted by a strong majority to condemn the Syrian authorities for the crackdown, which has left some 5,000 people dead since the protests against President Bashar al-Assad began in March.

The non-binding resolution - passed by a vote of 133 to 11, with 43 abstentions - demanded an immediate end to human rights abuses and called on Damascus to implement the Arab League plan.

Deal ‘amendments’

On Monday, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a soldier who defected had reported the deaths of 60-70 army deserters by machine-gun fire in Idlib province - the main stronghold for army defectors.

“They were killed while trying to run away from their military positions on the way between the villages of Kensafra and Kefer Quaid, in Zawyia Mountain, in Idlib district,” the group said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem: “We do not seek to waste time. It is us seeking a solution”

The Observatory said another 40 people had died across the country, including three government soldiers were killed in fighting with armed rebels in Idlib.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission - a coalition of 40 opposition grassroots groups - said the number of defecting soldiers who died in Idlib reached 72.

Overall, it said, 114 people had died across the country on Monday, a toll which included nine deaths in Deraa and nine in Homs.

The claims cannot be independently verified as foreign media are banned from reporting in Syria.

The government of President Assad says it is fighting armed gangs, trying to destabilise Syria.

The alleged shooting of the deserters came just hours after Damascus finally put its signature to the Arab League deal to deploy observers in Syria.

After the protocol was signed at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Damascus had agreed because it wanted help to find a “political solution”.

“We want to emerge from this crisis and build a safe, modern Syria - a Syria that will be a model of democracy,” he said.

“The signing of the protocol is the beginning of co-operation between us and the Arab League and we will welcome monitors.”

He said Syria’s sovereignty would be protected because the Arab League had agreed to amendments to the deal, which also calls for all violence to be halted, for the withdrawal of troops from the streets and the release of detainees.

The observers would be “free” in their movements and “under the protection of the Syrian government”, he added, but would not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites.

Mr Muallem said he was confident that the observers would support the government’s assertion that “armed terrorist groups” were stirring up trouble, and targeting security personnel and civilians.

Damascus ‘manoeuvring’

The Arab League’s Secretary General, Nabil al-Arabi, told reporters that an advance party led by one of his assistants would travel to Syria in the next two or three days to prepare for the arrival of monitors.

The observers will have a one-month mandate that can be extended by another month if both sides agree.

But the leader of the Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group, dismissed the government’s decision as “just a ploy”.

The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says there is much scepticism in activist circles about the government’s willingness to implement a peace plan which could result in large parts of the country falling out of its control.

Since mid-November, Syria wavered on whether to agree to the deployment of observers, prompting the Arab League to impose a range of economic sanctions.

In that time, more than 900 civilians have been killed by Syrian security forces, including 80 children and 29 women, according to the LCC.

Syria was accused of engaging in a time-buying ruse on Monday after it agreed to allow the Arab League to send observers into the country, temporarily averting a threat by regional powers to refer Damascus to the UN Security Council.