A delegation from members of the Arab League has arrived in Syria in order to prepare for the arrival of 20 foreign observers over the weekend, a number that will eventually increase to 500.
The observers will judge whether Syria is implementing a peace plan it agreed to after pressure by the Arab League and Turkey.
The plan includes withdrawal of troops from the streets, release of prisoners, and dialogue with the opposition.
However, Bashar al-Assad’s regime has escalated its crackdown on anti-government protestors, with reports emerging that over 200 people were killed over the past two days, with 100 dying in one village alone.
Witnesses in Kfar Owaid described it as an ‘organised massacre’, saying troops surrounded activists and villagers and attacked the crowds with rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said yesterday: "We strongly condemn the Syrian leadership's policies of oppression against its own people, which are turning the country into a bloodbath." The US also harshly criticised the Syrian regime after the attack on Kfar Owaid, accusing Syria of trying to "mow down" its own people.