Syrian security forces shot dead 17 protesters today, six of them in a city being visited by Arab League monitors checking on president Bashar al-Assad's compliance with a pledge to stop a military crackdown on popular unrest.
The Arab League is hoping its deal with Dr Assad can put an end to nine months of bloodshed in which well over 5,000 people have been killed by a United Nations count, provoking international sanctions against Damascus and raising fears of wider conflict.
But anti-Assad activists have said the monitoring mission is too small and easily restricted by state security agents determined to cover up abuses. There have also been questions about its leader, a Sudanese general whose government has defied an international war crimes tribunal over bloodshed in Darfur.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Dr Assad's security forces opened fire on protests in cities around the country. Six died in Hama, a major hotbed of unrest, shortly after the arrival of monitors for a first look.
The Observatory said security forces fired at a street rally in Douma, a Damascus suburb, killing four people. Enraged residents launched a civil disobedience campaign and thousands reportedly flooded the main square for a sit-in.
"The activists have called for complete civil disobedience. The roads have been blocked, stores are shut down and the city is paralysed," said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the British-based Observatory.
In addition to the 17 slain protesters, five unidentified people were shot dead in Idlib, near the Turkish border, in the vicinity of military sites in the city, which was also due to be toured by an Arab League delegation.
Monitors were to check conditions in the turbulent cities of Deraa, Hama and Idlib, which lie along a 450-km (280-mile) arc of revolt from the south to the north of Syria.
At its midpoint is Homs, where the Arab League mission had a controversial start when its Sudanese chief, General Mustafa al-Dabi, reported seeing "nothing frightening" in an initial tour.
The Arab mission is the first notable international involvement in Syria's crisis. The uprising against 41 years of repressive rule by the Assad family was inspired by other Arab popular revolts that have overthrown three dictators this year.
Anti-Assad activists said they had seen no sign of monitors on the streets of Hama and Deraa by mid-afternoon, and they were unable to contact them by telephone. Extra security forces were deployed around areas expecting monitors, they said.
Reuters