The first Arab peace monitors will arrive in Syria this week, the Arab League chief said on Tuesday, after more than 100 people were killed in one of the bloodiest days of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Security forces machine-gunned soldiers deserting from their army base in the north-western Idlib province on Monday, killing more than 60, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The state news agency SANA said security forces had killed five "terrorists" in Deraa province on Monday night. It also said Assad had decreed the death penalty for anyone caught distributing arms "with the aim of committing terrorist acts". Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told Reuters in Cairo that an advance team would go to Syria on Thursday, with the rest of about 150 monitors due to arrive by end-December.