By the CNN Wire Staff
Damascus, Syria (CNN) — A former member of the Arab League monitoring team in Syria said he resigned from the mission because it is “providing the regime cover for more killing” and “shameful” brutality.
“I quit because I found myself serving the regime and not part of an independent monitoring body,” Anwar Malek, an Algerian, told Al-Jazeera in an interview Wednesday. His remarks were translated by CNN. “I am unable to stop the killing.”
The Arab League embarked on a fact-finding mission in Syria in December, part of an initiative to end the bloody 10-month-long crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad’s government against peaceful protesters.
The League wants the government to stop violence against civilians, free political detainees, remove tanks and weapons from cities and allow outsiders, including the international news media, to travel freely around Syria. The purpose of the mission is to see how the government is adhering to the plan.
The Arab League confirmed to CNN that Malek was part of the observer team.
read more on CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/11/world/meast/syria-arab-league/index.html