A Syrian opposition group is set to meet Wednesday with the head of the Cairo-based Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, to discuss that nation's worsening violence. Also on the agenda will be the issue of President Bashar al-Assad's failure to fulfill his agreement to end the government crackdown on protesters against his regime.
At least 3,500 people have died in Syria since government crackdowns began in response to protests against the Assad regime, the United Nations said Wednesday.
The Damascus government's military assaults against the weekly demonstrations have had little effect on the eight-month-old revolt touched off by the region-wide "Arab Spring" uprisings.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has placed the death toll much higher, at more than 4,200 civilians killed in the conflict since March. At least 100 people were killed in the central city of Homs last week, the Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah told Reuters.
The talks between the delegation from the Syrian National Committee for Democratic Change and the head of the 22-member Arab League are being held in advance of an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers set to take place on Saturday.