Arab League monitor team member hurt by Syrian troops

Syrian security forces wounded a member of a delegation of Arab League monitors seeking to verify government compliance with an accord to end a violent crackdown on protesters, Al Arabiya reported Monday. It cited coordination committees of anti-government protesters. “I very much doubt the Syrian regime will allow the observers to do their work. I expect them to try and hinder their movements by claiming that some areas are not safe, intimidating them or sending them to places other than the ones they should go to ”Prominent opposition figure Waleed Al Bunni from Cairo 'Annhiliation' Speaking with Al Arabiya television, an Arab League monitoring delegation member said forces of the Syrian government were committing an act of “annihilation” against civilians. Egyptian monitor Mustashar Mahjoub said he was wounded by Syrian security forces. He said he witnessed intensified shelling of Babo Amro a residential area in the central city of Homs that has been under seige by Syrian forces for days. Speaking emotionally he said, “I couldn’t even explain to my 18-year-old daughter what is happening. It is not time for meetings its time for action.” 20 killed in three days A third day of heavy gunfire in Syria's flashpoint city of Homs has killed at least twenty people, a day before an Arab League monitoring mission is expected there, activists said on Monday. "The toll has risen to 20 martyrs documented by name and the circumstances of their deaths," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Fourteen died in the continuous shelling on the Baba Amr neighbourhood and six were killed in random gunfire in nearby neighbourhoods." Al Assad's crackdown intensifies Beirut: The Arab League forged ahead with plans to send teams of monitors into Syria Monday even though President Bashar Al Assad's regime has only intensified its crackdown in the week since agreeing to halt bloodshed, killing several hundred civilians according to activists. At least 20 more deaths were reported on Monday from intense shelling by government forces in the centre of the country, just hours before the monitoring teams were to arrive. 275 civilians, 150 others, killed in past week Activists said at least 275 civilians have been killed by government forces in the past week and another 150 people died in clashes between army defectors and regime troops - most of them defectors. The stepped up crackdown, including what activists said was a "massacre" in one town where 110 people were mowed down in several hours last week, brought a new round of international condemnation of Syria. Neighbouring Turkey said the violence flew in the face of the Arab League deal that Syria signed and raises doubts about the regime's true intentions. The Arab League plan agreed to by Assad requires the government to remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. The monitors are supposed to ensure compliance, but so far there is no sign that Al Assad is implementing any of the terms, much less letting up on the brutal crackdown. Members of the opposition say the regime's agreement to the Arab League plan is a farce. "I very much doubt the Syrian regime will allow the observers to do their work," said prominent opposition figure Waleed Al Bunni from Cairo. "I expect them to try and hinder their movements by claiming that some areas are not safe, intimidating them or sending them to places other than the ones they should go to." Syria's top opposition leader, doubtful that the Arab League alone can budge Al Assad, called Sunday for the League to bring the UN Security Council into the effort. Over 5,000 killed since March The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed since March in the political violence. The opposition has warned that the government, which has been besieging the Baba Amr district in the city of Homs for days, was preparing a massive assault on the area. Activists said the forces shelled the area with mortars and sprayed heavy machine gun fire in the most intense assault since the siege began Friday. The Baba Amr district has been a center for anti-government protests and army defections and has seen repeated crackdowns by the Syrian regime in recent months. Increasingly militarised The Syrian conflict is becoming increasingly militarised with growing clashes between army defectors and troops. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, described the attacks in Homs as a kind of "hysteria" as government forces desperately try to get the situation there under control ahead of the monitors' arrival. "The observers are sitting in their hotel in Damascus while people are dying in Homs," he said. The Observatory called on the monitors "to head immediately to Baba Amr to be witnesses to the crimes against humanity that are being perpetrated by the Syrian regime". France expresses strong concerns France expressed strong concerns about the continued deterioration of the situation in Homs and urged Syria's government to allow Arab League observers immediate access. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Syrian authorities should allow the observers access to the city "starting this afternoon." Although Syria showed no sign of altering its course, the Arab League said it was going ahead and officials declined to comment on the continued crackdown. Arab League chief Nabil Al Araby said 70 Arab monitors will arrive in the evening to join an advance team. Al Araby told reporters after meeting with the observers in Cairo that the mission will begin its work Tuesday. Up to 500 monitors are to be eventually deployed. Anwar Malek, a member of the monitoring mission, insisted they will have absolute freedom of movement in Syria, adding that the team will travel to flashpoint cities including Homs, Aleppo, Daraa, Idlib and Hama. Secrecy He and other observers refused to disclose the exact travel itinerary, saying they preferred to maintain some secrecy to ensure the mission's success. Al Assad stalled for weeks on agreeing to the Arab League plan and signed only after the League threatened to turn to the UN Security Council to help stop the violence. The opposition believes the authoritarian leader is only trying to buy time and forestall more international sanctions and condemnation. Amateur videos posted by activists on the Internet showed gruesome footage of at least four corpses lying in pools of blood in front of a house in Baba Amr, where they reportedly died from mortar shells that struck the neighbourhood. Men could be heard crying for help and women wailing in the video, which also showed several destroyed homes and cars. 'It doesn't stop' A resident of a neighbourhood next to Baba Amr said he heard "loud explosions" throughout the night and Monday morning. "It doesn't stop," he told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals. The Local Coordination Committees activist network also reported intense shelling "targeting homes and anyone who moves" in Baba Amr.