Plea to Arab League to monitor Syrian flashpoints

SYRIA: A first group of Arab League observers were expected in Syria Monday to monitor a deal to end nine months of deadly violence as the opposition urged them to head immediately for the besieged city of Homs.

The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) called Sunday for the observers to despatch without fail to Homs and other hot spots of the government's bloody crackdown on dissent.

"Since early this morning, the (Homs) neighbourhood of Baba Amr has been under a tight siege and the threat of military invasion by an estimated 4,000 soldiers," said the SNC, the main umbrella group of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

"The Syrian National Council demands that the Arab League observers go to Homs immediately, specifically to the besieged neighbourhoods, to fulfil their stated mission," it added in a statement. AFP