The Arab League (AL) chief Nabil al-Arabi said on Monday that Syrian military has pulled back from residential areas and is on the outskirts of the country's cities, calling Syria to withdraw all snipers out cities and immediately halt all shootings, Xinhua reported.
"There are still snipers on the roof of buildings. Syria must stop the gunfire immediately," said Arabi during a press conference held in the AL headquarters in Cairo.
"The Arab League monitors visited 6 Syrian cities, and has an operation room to follow up the situation in Syria via the mission, " said Arabi, adding that the pan-Arab body had 70 monitors and the number could be increased to more than 100 within a few days.
"The duty of the Arab League mission in Syria is difficult and could not be carried out within a few days", said Arabi, pointing out that crimes were committed even in places where peacekeeping forces existed.
Meanwhile, he called on the media not to publish stories until being sure of the credibility.
The advance team of AL observers to Syria returned to Cairo on Sunday after a ten-day visit to Damascus. The 11-member team, led by Samir Saif al-Yazal, assistant to Arabi, was assigned to prepare for the observers' delegations and to take part in some monitoring of the situation in Syria.
Syria signed the AL observer protocol on Dec. 19 in Cairo after the AL threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
Dozens of observers have so far traveled to a number of cities including Daraa and Homs, and preparations are underway for the arrival of 47 observers from the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Iraq.
The AL observers are monitoring the situation in Syria as part of the AL peace initiative to end the months-long turmoil in Syria. The Syrian government said some 2,000 army and security personnel were killed since the unrest began in March, while the United Nations said more than 5,000 people have died in the violence.