AFP, Damascus, 3 Jan 2012 – France on Tuesday said it was sceptical an Arab League observer mission aimed at halting violence in Syria had made any progress, amid warnings regime snipers remain a threat to civilians.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, in his first remarks since the observers were deployed in Syria last week, defended the mission, saying it had secured the release of political prisoners and the withdrawal of tanks from cities.
‘There are still snipers and gunfire. There must be a total halt to the gunfire,’ Arabi however admitted to reporters in Cairo on Monday.