CAIRO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A first batch of Arab monitors left Cairo on their way to Syria on Monday to assess whether Damascus is adhering to a plan to end a nine-month crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, an airport security source said.
"They are 60 in total. Fifty are monitors and 10 are from the Arab League secretariat," said the source, who added that they were on a private Egyptian airplane.
The observer mission will eventually include about 150 people, League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told Reuters last week.
The head of the observer mission, Sudanese General Mustafa al-Dabi, arrived in Damascus on Saturday. He went to Syria shortly after an advance team of Arab League officials travelled there to arrange terms and logistics for the mission. (Reporting by Marwa Awad; Writing by Patrick Werr)
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