CAIRO - The Arab League (AL) sent 50 observers to Syria on Monday as part of its plan to stop the violence in the unrest-hit country.

AL chief Nabil el-Arabi had met with the delegation before their departure on Monday afternoon. Arabi asked the observers to keep neutral when carrying out their mission in Syria.

Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mostafa al-Dabi, head of the observer mission, arrived in Syria on Sunday evening. On Thursday, an advance team of the mission, headed by Samir Saif al-Yazal, assistant to AL chief, had arrived.

Syria signed the AL observer protocol on Dec 19 in the Egyptian capital of Cairo after the AL threatened to submit the issue to the United Nations Security Council.

The Syrian government said Thursday that a total of 2,000 army and security personnel were killed during the nine-month-old unrest. However, the United Nations said more than 5,000 Syrians have been killed.