Arab monitors "buy time" for Assad-Syria opposition

[vminfla]

Syrian opposition figures said on Monday the presence of the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria was only giving authorities more time to crush their opponents with violence.

The League observers, who began work on the ground two weeks ago, have so far failed to stop the suppression of protests against President Bashar al-Assad in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in 10 months.

After a review meeting in Cairo on Sunday, the Arab League said the government had only partly implemented a pledge to stop the bloodshed, free detainees and withdraw troops from cities.

"The initial report is too vague, and it essentially buys the regime more time," said Rima Fleihan, a member of the Syrian National Council, a leading opposition group in exile.

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFL6E8C80NK20120109?sp=true

Exactly their purpose. No surprise here.