Arab League to discuss Syria

CAIRO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Members of the Syrian opposition say the Arab League should give up its monitoring mission and urge the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, wants the Arab League to charge President Bashar Assad with war crimes, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported. The newspaper said Assad has been using the league's monitoring mission to give cover to his crackdown on dissidents.

Lt. Gen. Mohammad Al-Dabi, who heads the monitoring mission, submitted his report Saturday to the league's secretary general, Nabil al-Araby, Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported. The report was distributed to representatives of member states and was to be discussed Sunday at a meeting in Cairo.

The league must decide whether to continue its monitoring.

The United Nations says thousands of people have been killed in Syria since large protests began last year, most of them dissidents caught in the crackdown by Assad's forces. Protesters say 400 people died while the mission was in Syria.