Arab League Observers Expected In Homs

Observers from the Arab League are visiting the flash-point Syrian city of Homs. 

Fifty monitors and 10 other officials from the Arab League arrived in Syria in a bid to end nine months of violence between government troops and opponents of Assad.  

They are tasked with determining whether the government is fulfilling a peace plan, including a withdrawal of troops from cities.   

Their visit to Homs comes a day after activists say at least 30 people were killed as government tanks reportedly pounded neighborhoods. 

Fighting in Homs has intensified since a double suicide bombing in Damascus on December 23 that killed 44 people.

Parts of the city are being defended by the Free Syrian Army, made up of defectors from the regular armed forces, who say they have tried to protect civilians.

compiled from agency reports