Mass Protests in Homs as Observers Enter Syria

On Tuesday, 70,000 Syrians took to the streets in Homs as Arab League monitors are expected to return on Wednesday. “More than 70,000 demonstrators tried to enter Al-Saa square in the center of the city of Homs, then security agents used tear gas to disperse them,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. As the violence continues in Homs, with 30 people killed on Monday, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry noted ”the authorities in Damascus must imperatively, in keeping with the Arab League plan, allow the access of observers to the city of Homs.”

About 60 Arab League monitors began their work on Tuesday, as video captured some Syrians telling the observers “we are unarmed people who are dying,” and “we are being slaughtered here.” State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner stated “we condemn the Syrian military’s escalation of violence in Homs, Daraa and other cities prior to the deployment of the Arab League monitors,” and “we expect that Arab League monitors will be able to deploy and move freely within Homs and other Syrian cities as protestors peacefully gather in reaction to the regime’s excessive violence.”