Arab League foreign ministers have called on Syria to honor its agreement to stop violence against protesters, and they have agreed to increase the number of monitors observing compliance with the plan.

The top diplomats from Qatar and other Arab nations met Sunday in Cairo to assess the progress of the observer mission, which has about 150 people in Syria.

Syrian opposition activists and rights groups have criticized the observers, saying their presence has failed to secure any easing of the crackdown by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Some critics have called on the League to withdraw the monitors.

But the Arab League says the mission will continue. The head of the observer team, Sudanese General Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, gave an initial report on its progress Sunday and is due to give a full report January 19.

More than 50 opponents of President Assad rallied outside the Cairo hotel where the Arab ministers met, chanting anti-Assad slogans. They want an end to his 11-year autocratic rule.

The United Nations says violence related to Mr. Assad's suppression of the rebellion has killed at least 5,000 people. Damascus accuses armed terrorists of driving the revolt and killing 2,000 security personnel.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says army defectors who joined the uprising killed 11 pro-Assad troops and wounded 20 others in a battle on Sunday in the southern province of Daraa. The British-based rights group also says Syrian security forces and pro-Assad militiamen killed at least 10 civilians on Sunday in attacks on opposition protest hubs. It says seven of those killed were in the central province of Homs.

There was no independent confirmation of the casualties because Syria bars most foreign journalists from operating freely in the country.