UN to train Arab League monitors

Wednesday, 18 January 2012 10:58

Written by Editor

The United Nations has announced it will begin training Arab League observers monitoring the uprising in Syria after Arab League foreign ministers meet this weekend to discuss the progress of the mission so far. The training is to be carried out in Cairo by staff of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Many in Syria's opposition movement have said the presence of the Arab League observer mission is failing to stem the violence as President Bashar al-Assad's government continues to crack down on opposition and some had been calling for the UN to take a greater role in monitoring the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of opposition activists inside Syria, said another 15 people died across the country on Monday, including five defecting soldiers, two women and two children. At least 5,000 people have died since the beginning of an anti-government uprising in March, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says, but casualty figures are hard to verify as most foreign media are barred.

On Saturday, the ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, said Arab countries should send in troops to end the bloodshed. It is the first time an Arab leader has publicly called for military intervention in Syria.