AMMAN/GENEVA/BEIRUT: Syrian security forces are still killing anti-government protesters despite the presence of foreign monitors in the country, the head of the Arab League said Monday.

But he insisted the observer mission has yielded important concessions from Damascus, such as the withdrawal of heavy weapons from cities.

Syria’s opposition cautioned the observers not to be taken in by President Bashar Assad’s government, which has unleashed a withering military assault to crush a nine-month-old uprising. Opposition groups have been deeply critical of the mission, saying it is simply giving Assad cover for his crackdown.

“The Arab League has fallen victim to the regime’s typical traps, in which observers have no choice but to witness regime-staged events, and move about the country only with the full knowledge of the regime,” said a statement by the Local Coordinating Committees, an umbrella group of activists.

“This has rendered the observers unable to work or move independently or in a neutral manner,” the group said.

The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted in mid-March. Activists say that in the week since the observers started their work in Syria on Dec. 27, hundreds have been slain. The LCC put the death toll at more than 390 people since Dec. 21.

“Yes, there is still shooting and yes there are still snipers,” Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference in Cairo. “Yes, killings continue. The objective is for us to wake up in the morning and hear that no one is killed. The mission’s philosophy is to protect civilians, so if one is killed, then our mission is incomplete.

“There must be a complete cease-fire,” Elaraby said.

Elaraby stressed the achievements of the Arab League mission, saying Syria’s government has pulled tanks and artillery from cities and residential neighborhoods and freed some 3,500 prisoners. He said food supplies have reached residents and the bodies of dead protesters have been recovered.

The monitors are supposed to verify Syria’s compliance with an Arab League plan to stop the crackdown on dissent – a plan Syria agreed to on Dec. 19. The plan requires Assad’s regime to remove security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and free political prisoners.

The ongoing violence is reinforcing the opposition’s view that Syria’s limited cooperation with the observers is nothing more than a ploy by Syria to buy time and forestall more international condemnation and sanctions.

In its statement, the LCC said the regime has been disguising soldiers and army officers in police uniforms and hiding their army vehicles to make it appear they have pulled out in accordance with the Arab League plan.

While most of the violence reported early in the uprising involved Syrian forces firing on unarmed protesters, there are now more frequent armed clashes between military defectors and security forces. The increasing militarization of the conflict has raised fears the country is sliding toward civil war.

The LCC said 20 people were killed across the country Monday, including 11 in restive Homs province in central Syria and three in Idlib province, which borders Turkey.

Syria has banned most foreign reporters and prevented independent journalism, making it difficult to verify reports. Witness accounts, activist groups and amateur videos have become key channels of information.

On Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said army defectors attacked two military posts in that province, capturing a number of security forces. The rebels also clashed with soldiers at a third post, and there were casualties, the observatory said. The exact number of those captured and killed was not immediately available.

It was not clear if the observatory’s account from Idlib was connected to the footage in the amateur video.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the observatory, confirmed that tanks have not been seen in Syrian cities since Thursday. But he said residents reported that the weapons were still a threat.

“They can bring the tanks back and use them to fight,” Abdul-Rahman told the Associated Press. He said the Arab League should not necessarily see the withdrawal as a concession; instead, they should insist the tanks stay away for good.

The opposition also has complained that the presence of suspected government agents with the observers has discouraged Syrians from approaching them.

Elaraby said the mission was relying less and less on logistics provided by the Syrian government, but pointed out that employing Syrian drivers was inevitable because they are familiar with the roads.

“We cannot investigate the true identity of drivers,” Elaraby said.

Suggesting that the Arab League did not have a figure for the number of people in custody since the uprising began, Elaraby called on the opposition and ordinary Syrians to aid the observers by sending them names of relatives or friends they think are detained by Assad’s regime.

He did not say whether the Arab League was able to verify the release of 3,484 prisoners or when they left prison.

In separate developments, Switzerland’s highest court has refused to lift an entry ban on a cousin of President Assad, who was seeking to travel to the country to fight sanctions imposed by Bern.

Hafez Makhlouf, who heads Damascus’ secret services, counts among the regime’s hard-liners, and is alleged to have been in charge of the brutal repression against demonstrators.

According to the Swiss court’s ruling published on its website, Makhlouf had been contesting the sanctions imposed on him by Bern, arguing that the embargo was based on inaccurate information.

As part of his bid to contest Bern’s actions, Makhlouf sought to travel to Switzerland to meet his lawyer, but the court turned down his request for a visa. The court found that the Syrian and his lawyer had “at their disposal modern modes of communication” and the lawyer “can travel to Syria with ease” to meet his client.

Makhlouf figures in sixth position on a list of 54 people whose assets have been frozen by Bern, according to the court. He is “designated as the colonel in charge of the Damascus’ unit in the intelligence command,” it said. He is also “implicated in the repression against demonstrators.”