A good day at the office for the Arab League?

It’s fair to say that the Arab League observers have had a reasonable first day at the office. They have made it to the hotspot of Homs and it is reported that a team will remain in the town overnight, their leader returning to Damascus.

Channel 4 News has spoken to Ramir Abdurahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). His account, taken from his teams of observers across the country may or may not be accurate and objective, it is impossible to know.

According to him at least 11 army tanks were withdrawn from the town before the Arab League team arrived. But he says that some other pieces of heavy military equipment – possibly including tanks – have  been hidden in the grounds of various government buildings around town.

During the day there was a call to protest in the town’s Ahasah Square and he says around 70,000 attended that rally. Looking at YouTube images I would say the figure is a fraction of that – though the noisy crowd is several thousand strong. All sides agree this rally was peaceful. Although the SOHR claims government security forces tried to prevent people from entering the town to protest and there were injuries. This can’t be verified independently.

Interestingly SOHR says a team of five Arab League observers reached the square and witnessed the rally for themselves.

Read more: Syrian ‘civil war’ as Arab league observers tour Homs

Across the country, according to SOHR, matters have been less than peaceful. It claims there are many reported killed in other areas of Syria. It says government forces have opened fire on unarmed protesters in Deraa and Duma which is close to the capital Damascus, as well as up in Idlib in the north west of the country close to the frontier with Turkey. Again it should be stressed these reports can’t be verified independently.

But on the assessment of one day’s work it is clear the Arab League team has at least made it to where something approaching civil war has been happening for a few months now. Not only that they have done a good deal more than simply sit with the local governor being told how reality is in Homs. Further, a team remains in the town overnight and they are clearly moving around to sites of protest and into some of the suburbs and districts of Homs which have seen the fiercest exchanges of fire in recent days.

Again, a word of caution. In a time of war every side tells lies as much as they fire weapons. And both sides are firing weapons in Syria. You are seeing a lot of images on YouTube perhaps which tell something of the story – but often only one side of the story. As the name suggests, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights exists to do much the same. Not telling lies, but telling one part of a wider reality.

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