The Arab League chief said on Monday that snipers and gunfire continue to threaten civilian lives in Syria and called for the shootings to end.

The Arab League chief said on Monday that snipers and gunfire continue to threaten civilian lives in Syria and called for the shootings to end, as activists heaped criticism on the mission.

But Nabil al-Arabi defended the observers in his first remarks since the Arab observers were deployed in Syria a week ago, saying the "mission needs more time."

"There are still snipers and gunfire. There must be a total halt to the gunfire," Arabi stated.

The issue will be raised with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, he told reporters in Cairo," because the aim is to stop the shooting and protect civilians."

But "it is difficult to say who is firing on whom," Arabi added.

Arab foreign ministers could meet as early as next week to review a report expected to be submitted later this week by the mission's chief Lt. Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi and to consider Diqbassi's remarks, Arabi said.

He also revealed that the Syrian government promised to allow foreign journalists into the country to cover the unrest that has gone unabated since mid-March, "with the exception of three television stations."

Al-Dabi, head of the observer mission, is due to send his "first report in the next two days" on the situation in Syria, Arabi said.

"An Arab foreign minister has asked that a ministerial meeting be convened to discuss the report," he added.

On Sunday, the Arab Parliament, an advisory body of the 22-member Arab League, intensified the pressure saying the observers should be immediately withdrawn having failed to halt the government's deadly crackdown.

"We are seeing an increase in violence, more people are being killed including children... and all this in the presence of Arab League observers, which has angered the Arab people," said the body's speaker, Salem al-Diqbassi in a statement.

He urged Arabi to "immediately pull out the Arab observers, considering the continued killing of innocent civilians by the Syrian regime."

In his response, the League chief said Diqbassi's comments were an "important statement" and will be discussed once Arab ministers meet. However, he asked to wait before evaluating the feasibility of Arab observers’ task which has begun only a week ago.