Arab league likely to extend monitor mission in Syria

Arab League foreign ministers are due to decide whether to extend their controversial monitoring mission in Syria, amid continuing violence.The 165-strong mission expired on Thursday with no sign of a halt to the governments crackdown on protestersThe observers have been criticised for failing to stop the violence, but analysts say the league is expected to renew the mission for another month.Meanwhile, Syrian rebels said that army deserters had briefly taken control of much of the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday night after fierce fighting with the security services.The rebels later decided to withdraw for fear of reprisal raids from the government forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.In a separate development, at least 14 people died after a van carrying prisoners was blown up on a road in north-west Syria on Saturday, reports say.The official Sana news agency said the police van was attacked by an armed group on the Idlib-Ariha highway.Opposition groups confirmed the attack but did not say who carried it out.Rights activists also said 30 unidentified corpses had been discovered at the National Hospital in Idlib and at least six people died elsewhere.The UN says that more than 5,000 have died since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted last March.The government in Damascus says that some 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed combating armed gangs and terrorists.