Arab League ministers plan to meet Saturday to review an observer team's assessment of whether the Syrian government is keeping its pledge to end a crackdown on a 10-month pro-democracy uprising.
Arab officials say the meeting of the League ministerial committee on the Syrian crisis will be held in Cairo. A group of 70 Arab League observers led by a Sudanese general has been operating in Syria since last week, even as violence has continued. Egypt's state-run news agency says 14 more observers, mostly from Iraq, left Cairo on Tuesday to join the Syria mission.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told VOA that government forces killed 21 people across the country Tuesday, most by sniper fire. It said 11 people were killed in the central region of Hama, while the other fatalities were reported in Homs, Idlib, Damascus suburbs and Daraa.
Syrian opposition activists have criticized the observer mission, saying it provides a cover to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to continue cracking down on the rebellion against his 11-year autocratic rule.
Arab League chief Nabil El Araby has acknowledged that snipers and gunfire remain a threat in Syrian cities. But, he says the observers have secured key concessions from Syria such as the release of political prisoners and the withdrawal of tanks from cities where opposition activists stage frequent anti-Assad protests.
Mr. Assad faced more Western pressure Tuesday, with the White House saying it is “past time” for the U.N. Security Council to act against the Syrian government. Spokesman Jay Carney said the United States is working with its international partners to increase pressure on Syria to stop what he called its “completely unacceptable violence” against its own citizens.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated a call on Mr. Assad to resign, accusing him of committing “disgusting massacres” against the Syrian people. Mr. Sarkozy said Syrians should be allowed to choose their own destiny.
In other violence on Tuesday, the British-based Observatory said army deserters killed 18 government troops in a battle that also killed eight defectors near the southern village of Jassem. It said the fighting erupted as dozens of soldiers were deserting their posts and came under artillery fire from pro-Assad troops.
Syrian rebel commander Riad al-Asaad told the Reuters news agency his forces will escalate their operations if the Arab League observers do not make serious progress in securing an end to the government crackdown in the next week.
Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported an armed terrorist group blew up a gas pipeline near the central town of Rastan on Tuesday, cutting supplies to two power plants. It said the pipeline blast will force authorities to extend daily power cuts by one hour. Mr. Assad blames terrorists for violence linked to the revolt.
Journalists in Syria also have come under attack during the uprising. The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression said Tuesday it wants an immediate investigation into the fatal shooting of a journalist who worked for the government's Al-Thawra newspaper and Radio Damascus. Shukri Abu-Burghul was shot on December 30 outside his Damascus home and died Monday in a hospital.
The United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since March in the Syrian government's crackdown on protests inspired by the Arab Spring democracy movement.
