An initial report from the monitors will say violence by Syrian security forces against anti-government protesters continues and the military has failed to withdraw from cities, the Qatar-based pan-Arab satellite news channel said, citing what it said were leaked sections of the report.

The Syrian government has only partially complied with its pledge to release political prisoners, with citizens complaining that some are still being detained in unknown locations, Al Jazeera cited the report as saying.

Sunday's meeting, attended by Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Qatar and officials from Saudi Arabia and other states, will examine what monitors have found since starting work on December 26 and discuss ways for them to work more independently of Syrian authorities, League sources said.

The presence of Saudi and Egyptian representatives gives weight to the committee's decisions because other League states tend to follow their lead.

But despite pressure from Qatar, which chairs the committee on Syria, and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, some are playing down the chances of a harsh rebuke of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying it could burn bridges with his government.

"We don't expect today's meeting will come up with something that would fully condemn one party, because this will mean an end to the relationship between the Arab League and this party," a League source said.

The meeting will also discuss whether to ask the United Nations to help the mission, which has failed to end the 10-month crackdown on unrest in which thousands of people have been killed, according to U.N. figures.

About 50 of Assad's opponents gathered outside the Cairo hotel where the meeting was taking place, singing: "The people want the president dead" and "Down, down with Bashar." Some waved caricatures of Assad that likened him to the vampire Dracula, sucking the lifeblood from the Syrian people.

"The Syrian people are not hoping for anything from this meeting," said opposition activist Mohamed Ma'moun el-Hamsy. "This meeting deals with a dead protocol that the Syrian regime has not and will not implement one word of."

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said on Friday there had been no end to the killing in Syria and the monitors could not stay in the country to "waste time.

Assad's failure to abide by an Arab League peace plan saw Syria suspended from the 22-member regional body in November and the country now faces economic sanctions.

The Arab plan also called for Assad's government to permit peaceful protests, start dialogue with political opponents and allow foreign media to travel freely to the country. Syria agreed, but the pledge remains unfulfilled.