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Syrian forces fire on protesters

Yussef al-Ahmad, Syria's ambassador to the Arab League. The Arab League has voted to suspend Syria from all meetings until it implements plan to end bloodshed in the civil protests. UPI/ Ahmed Ahmed
Yussef al-Ahmad, Syria's ambassador to the Arab League. The Arab League has voted to suspend Syria from all meetings until it implements plan to end bloodshed in the civil protests. UPI/ Ahmed Ahmed | License Photo

HOMS, Syria, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Syrian security forces fired tear gas and bullets at demonstrators in the restive city of Homs Tuesday as Arab League observers arrived, activists said.

Some 35,000 protesters reportedly turned up to denounce the government's brutal crackdown on protesters in the Homs neighborhood of Khalidiah, where CNN reported a witness said security forces fired on protesters, injuring seven and arresting dozens of others.

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London reported gunfire near the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr and said security forces fired on people attending a funeral for people killed Monday, when 34 people died in the city.

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition group, reported "heavy gunfire and the presence of snipers aiming at everything that moves in the orchards of Baba Amr and Jober."

The protests and clashes with government forces came as the Arab League fact-finding mission began its visit to assess whether the government is upholding a commitment to end a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, now in its 10th month. The observers are monitoring an Arab League initiative that calls for President Bashar Assad's security forces to withdraw from cities, release detainees and end all forms of violence.

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Tanks left streets in Homs Tuesday as the Arab League observers arrived.

But the SOHR called the pullout of tanks a "show" for the benefit of the Arab League monitors and said the tanks repositioned themselves so they could return to their previous positions.

"It shows its (the Assad regime's) attempt to circumvent the Arab League mission in order to give credibility to its false stories and deny the crystal-clear fact that there is a huge political crisis and a 'popular revolution,' by all the standards, by the Syrian people who are trying to regain power, freedom and dignity," the SOHR said on its Facebook page.

Witnesses said sporadic fighting was heard in several neighborhoods, The New York Times reported.

The LCC said four people were killed in Homs, three at Damascus University, two in Deir Ezzor, and one each in Idlib and Harasta, a Damascus suburb, Tuesday. The group said 42 people were killed Monday, 34 in Homs alone.

It was unclear how far the tanks withdrew from Homs or whether they were only hidden from the monitors, as government opponents claimed.

Teams of Arab League observers are supposed to monitor whether Assad's government is honoring its commitment to pull its military equipment back. However, critics have raised doubts about whether the observers -- whose names and backgrounds have not been released -- could work independently of the government and whether the team has members qualified to judge what they see.

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CNN reported the 12 monitors from different countries would have free access to any place they want to go.

"The protocol entails that Syrian security only escorts the monitors to the entrances of the city only. According to the protocol, any party on the ground has the right to contact the monitors as they please," an Arab League official said.

The unrest in Syria began in March when protesters called for open elections and more political freedoms. But the movement became a call for the ouster of Assad, who opposition and international leaders said responded with a brutal crackdown.

The Arab League has expelled Syria over its crackdown. Assad has been under international pressure to end the violence from the Arab League, the European Union, Turkey and the United States.

The United Nations said earlier this month more than 5,000 people have died since Assad began the crackdown in mid-March, but opposition groups and political activists said the toll is higher. The government has reported 2,000 soldiers and security forces have been killed.

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