Syria accused of fooling Arab League

The situation in Syria is a humanitarian disaster and the Syrian government has fooled Arab League monitors, said a monitor who quit. Anwar Malek said he resigned his post as a member of the league's mission to Syria because of what he witnessed, including a series of war crimes, the BBC reported Wednesday. "The snipers are everywhere shooting at civilians," Malek said. "People are being kidnapped. Prisoners are being tortured and none were released." Malek accused the Syrian government of orchestrating what the monitors saw in an effort to keep the Arab League from taking action. "The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled," he said. The United Nations Security Council said Tuesday about 400 Syrians have been killed since the Arab League mission arrived in Syria in late December. Syrian security forces have killed more than 5,000 people since the uprising against the government began in March, the United Nations reported.