Arab League to discuss Syrian conflict

Arab League officials are expected to meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss their Syria mission amid escalating tension and a growing international outcry over the unrest that has killed thousands.

An observer mission sent by the League to assess a peace plan has been criticised as toothless, as violence continued despite its presence.

At least 27 people died across the country on Saturday, activists said. The clashes came as thousands joined a state-organised funeral for victims of a bomb blast on Friday in Damascus.

At least 26 people died in that attack, some of them members of the security forces.

Early Sunday morning, clashes between government security forces and army defectors killed at least 11 in the village of Basr al-Harir in Daraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition group with contacts throughout the country.

The Arab ministers meeting in Cairo are expected to discuss a proposal by Qatar for UN human rights experts to be invited to assist their work, in order to judge whether the Syrian authorities are honouring their pledge.

The ministers will also look at how the observers can operate more independently of Syrian authorities. Currently observers are required to be escorted by Syrian security officials.

The brutal government crackdown on protestors began in mid-March in Daraa. According to the UN over 5,000 persons have been killed in 10 months.