Beirut (dpa) – A grouping of leading Syrian opposition figures is preparing “a counter report” to contrast its differences with a report due to be presented Saturday by an Arab League observer mission to the nation, sources close to opposition leaders said. “We should submit such report to the Arab league to reveal to the members what exactly happened when the observers were in Syria, because we believe the report which the head of the observing mission will present will not reveal everything,” the source, who requested anonymity, told dpa. A one-month deal between Damascus and the Arab League to allow monitors in the country expired on Thursday, with no sign of a halt to the government's crackdown on protesters, which has been ongoing since March. The head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) opposition group, Burhan Ghaliun, is in Cairo to lobby Arab ministers to refer the observer mission's findings to the UN Security Council, a statement by the council said Friday. The 165-member mission has been heavily criticized by the opposition, accusing it of siding with the Syrian regime. “No observers have been able to do their job: instead, the mission legitimizes the Syrian regime,” said opposition member Radwan Ziadeh. The head of the monitoring team, Sudanese General Mohamed al-Dabi, is scheduled to submit his report to the Arab League on Saturday, a day before Arab foreign ministers are due to weigh their next move on Syria. According to a diplomat based in Beirut, the Arab League will start on Saturday a series of discussions over whether to extend its controversial monitoring mission to Syria, amid ongoing violence. “Many Arab countries are now keen to the idea of extending the mission to give one more chance to the Arab initiative to end the violence in Syria,” the diplomat said, doubting that such extension will give fruitful results. Syria's state-media have quoted unnamed officials as saying that the country would like the observers to pursue their work. The United Nations estimates that more than 5,400 people have been killed in government crackdown on pro-democracy protests since mid-March. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/bQGr8 Tags: Arab League, Observers, Report, Violence Section: Latest News, Syria
