Arab League peace monitors have arrived in the restive Syrian city of Homs, to be met by tens of thousands of anti-government protesters.
The observers are verifying compliance with an Arab League peace plan that requires an end to the violent crackdown on the protesters.
Activists said tanks withdrew from Homs hours before the observers arrived but there have been reports of gunfire.
The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed in protests since March.
SnipersAbdul Omar, a spokesman for the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the BBC at least 20,000 people had come out on to the streets to mark the arrival of the monitors.
Mr Omar said monitors had met the governor of Homs but there were no reports of any meetings with opposition activists yet, although communications with the city have been difficult.
Syria deaths
- More than 5,000 civilians have been killed, says the UN
- UN denied access to Syria
- Information gathered from NGOs, sources in Syria and Syrian nationals who have fled
- The death toll is compiled as a list of names which the UN cross-references
- Vast majority of casualties were unarmed, but the figure may include armed defectors
- Tally does not include serving members of the security forces
Source: UN's OHCHR
He said the government was playing cat-and-mouse with the protesters by withdrawing tanks from parts of the city.
Eyewitness Abu Rami told the BBC the protesters numbered 50,000 and there had been attacks by the government forces, leaving eight dead.
He said no-one knew where the monitors had gone and attempts by activists to contact them had proved unsuccessful.
Video footage sent to Reuters news agency on Tuesday and posted on YouTube appeared to show residents arguing with monitors, trying to get them to go further inside the city's Baba Amr district to see the victims of attacks. Gunfire can be heard in the background.
One of the monitors says on the video that he is unauthorised to speak.
Baba Amr and other parts of Homs came under heavy shellfire on Monday.
Residents said many buildings had been destroyed and government snipers had made it impossible to search for survivors.
Activists said at least 30 people were killed in the city on Monday.
Casualty figures and other information are hard to verify from Syria as most foreign media are banned from reporting.
The Syrian government says it is fighting armed gangs and that hundreds of members of the security forces have been killed as well.
Large numbers of army deserters are reported to have joined armed rebels in the Free Syrian Army in recent weeks to launch attacks on pro-government troops.
'Very co-operative'The observers' mission is to assess an Arab League initiative agreed with the Syrian government requiring all armed forces to withdraw from areas of conflict.
Omar Shakir, an eyewitness in Homs, said Syrian forces were still attacking the city
Damascus has pledged to allow the monitors full freedom of movement, but they will depend on the regime to provide transport and security.
The head of the mission, Sudan's Gen Mustafa Dabi, said the Syrian authorities were being "very co-operative", AFP news agency reported.
But the leader of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main umbrella group of opponents to President Assad, said the observers were "being held prisoners by the Syrian system".
The BBC's Jim Muir, in neighbouring Lebanon, says Syrian armed forces have made a show of withdrawing from protest flashpoints in the past, only to return when protests resume.
He says it will be clear by the end of the week whether the monitors are having the wool pulled over their eyes and, if they are, a referral to the UN Security Council will be virtually automatic.
The observer mission will eventually have up to 200 members.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said he expects the monitors to back the government's claim that armed gangs are behind the continuing violence.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-16340299
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