A Syrian Kurdish boy carries a banner during a protest outside the Arab League office in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. The protesters said the Arab League was not serious in attempts to stop the Syrian regime crackdown. A man behind the boy was carrying a poster of President Bashar Assad of Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A Syrian Kurdish boy carries a banner during a protest outside the Arab League office in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. The protesters said the Arab League was not serious in attempts to stop the Syrian regime crackdown. A man behind the boy was carrying a poster of President Bashar Assad of Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Arab League observers were due to arrive Monday in Syria in an attempt to ensure the government's compliance with demands to end a nine-month crackdown on dissent, even as activists reported at least 10 deaths from intense shelling by government forces in the center of the country.
The opposition has warned that the government, which has been besieging the Baba Amr district in the city of Homs for days, was preparing for a massive assault on the area. Activists said Monday's shelling using mortars and heavy machine gun fire was the most intense since Friday.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the latest deaths, called on Arab observers to head immediately to Homs to witness the violence, particularly in the "disaster-stricken" Baba Amr district.
Amateur videos posted by activists on the Internet showed gruesome footage of at least four corpses lying in pools of blood in front of a house in Baba Amr, where they reportedly died from mortar shells that struck the neighborhood.
Men could be heard crying for help and women wailing in the video, which also showed several destroyed homes and cars.
"We urge the Arab observers to head immediately to Baba Amr to be witnesses to the crimes against humanity that are being perpetrated by the Syrian regime," the Observatory said in a statement.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network also reported intense shelling "targeting homes and anyone who moves" in Baba Amr.
The Arab observers are tasked with monitoring Syria's compliance with an Arab League plan to end the crackdown on dissent, which the U.N. says has killed than 5,000 people since March.
The Baba Amr district has been a center for anti-government protests and army defections and has seen repeated crackdowns by the Syrian regime in recent months.
A resident of a neighborhood next to Baba Amr said he heard "loud explosions" throughout the night and Monday morning.
"It doesn't stop, it looks like they want to finish off Baba Amr once and for all," he told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.
An Arab League advance team arrived in Syria last week to discuss logistics and prepare for the arrival of the observers.
President Bashar Assad agreed to the League plan only after it warned that it could turn to the U.N. Security Council to help stop the violence.
The plan requires the government to remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country.
The opposition has accused Assad of agreeing to the plan only to buy time and forestall more international sanctions and condemnation.
Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, head of the Arab League observer team, traveled to Damascus late Saturday after meeting with Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby to discuss arrangements of the mission.
Associated Press
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