U.N. puts death toll at 4,000 in Syria as pressures rise

[oberliner]

Source: CNN

Cairo (CNN) -- The Arab League and other world powers boosted pressure on the Bashar al-Assad regime to end its nearly nine-month-long crackdown on demonstrators, a relentless push against mostly peaceful citizen protest that has now claimed at least 4,000 deaths.

Nabil el-Araby, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said the Syrian regime can "avoid the dangers of a foreign intervention" if it agrees to an Arab League plan to defuse the grinding conflict.

He said the Syrian government hasn't accepted the league plan to send observers into the country to monitor the response to civil unrest. But he said the government has a chance to overcome the crisis by agreeing to the idea.

"The Syrian government is not complying with the Arab initiative plan and their inability to stop the violence is what led to the escalation of the procedures of the sanctions against it," el-Araby said in a written statement.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/01/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html