Arabi Says Meshaal Had Role in Convincing Assad to Accept Monitors

The Damascus-based chief of Hamas was instrumental in getting Syria to accept an Arab observer mission into the country, the head of the Arab League said on Friday.

Nabil al-Arabi was speaking in Cairo after talks with Khaled Meshaal, the exiled head of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Meshaal "played a big role in advising the Syrians to sign the document," Arabi told reporters.

"I had sent a letter with him to the Syrian authorities to say that it was essential to work in honesty, transparency and credibility to stop the violence in Syria," Arabi said.

A team of Arab League monitors has been in Syria since December 26, trying to assess whether President Bashar al-Assad's regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending its deadly crackdown on dissent.

But critics say it has been completely outmaneuvered by the government and failed to make any progress towards stemming nearly 10 months of bloodshed.

Activists have called for the observer mission to admit its failure and hand over to the United Nations.

The U.N. estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since the crisis erupted in March.

Meshaal arrived in Cairo late on Thursday for a one-day visit in which he also held talks with Egyptian officials about Palestinian reconciliation efforts.