Arab League says Syria withdrew tanks from cities
The tanks might be gone, but women in Homs still must run a gauntlet of snipers to get groceries.
Syria’s government has withdrawn heavy weapons from inside cities and freed about 3,500 prisoners but security forces continue to kill protesters even with foreign monitors in the country, the Arab League chief said Monday.
Nabil Elaraby said pro-regime snipers also continue to operate in Syria and he demanded a complete cease-fire. But despite the regime’s ongoing crackdown, he listed the achievements of the Arab League monitors since they began work.
The monitors are supposed to verify Syria’s compliance with an Arab League plan to stop the 9-month-old crackdown on dissent. President Bashar Assad agreed to the plan on Dec. 19. But since the Arab League monitors began work last Tuesday, activists say government forces have killed more than 150 people, the vast majority of them unarmed, peaceful protesters.