BY MADISON MACK

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

After a week of conflicting reports coming from the Arab League and its monitoring mission in Syria, it seems a consensus has been reached – violence in Syria continues. Al Jazeera reports.

“But now we have the first official statement from the Secretary General of the Arab League saying the government has withdrawn troops from the cities but the snipers are still shooting people. Basically they’re saying the government of President Bashar al-Assad is not really fully compiling with terms of the peace initiative.”

According to Al Jazeera, at least 150 people have been killed since observers entered Syria last week. Speaking to ABC Australia, Middle East expert Dr. Ben Macqueen explains why the monitoring operation has had little effect.  

“I think the Arab League might have set the bar of expectations too high. The scope of the mission was a monitoring mission; it didn’t really have any didn’t really have any enforcement capacity. So the criticism coming about the lack of effect it’s had shows the futile nature of the mission itself. “

“It’s going to be very difficult for other countries or the UN to step in and implement something like happened in Libya as the opposition is much more divided in Syria and the regime in Damascus is still much more entrenched than Gaddafi’s regime was.”

This was the first time the Arab League took on such a mission, but some progress has been made. The Los Angeles Times notes the Syrian government has withdrawn tanks and heavy weaponry from most cities and residential areas, released more than 3,500 detainees, and improved food supplies to Homs. (Los Angeles Times)

And CNN reports – with some areas free from government forces for the first time, Syrians are filling the streets without fear of military intervention.

“In the early days of the uprising there were large protests that would often draw the fire of government forces but now, the demonstrations are much smaller in size but there are more of them in place where government troops can’t reach … everyday … and every night.”

The Arab League will release an official report covering the first week of monitoring by Sunday, then decide if it should increase the number of monitors in the country.