Syrian forces have pulled back from a rebel-held town under a local ceasefire, residents said yesterday, as a month-long mandate for Arab peace monitors in Syria expired.

Nine people were reported killed, adding to a death toll of more than 600 since the monitors arrived in Syria, where an insurgency is hardening what began as a mostly peaceful struggle against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Residents of Zabadani said troops and tanks that had besieged the insurgent-controlled town had pulled back after a deal to end days of fighting, according to an opposition leader.

Dozens of armored vehicles that had encircled Zabadani, a hill resort near the Lebanese border, withdrew to garrisons 8 kilometers away, Kamal al-Labwani told Reuters.

Arab League foreign ministers, due to weigh their next move at meetings in Cairo this weekend, disagree over how to handle the uprising in which thousands of people have been killed. An Arab League source said this week Syria might let the monitors stay on, but without any broadening of their mandate.

Some of Assad's opponents want action from the UN Security Council, but it is also split, with Russia declaring it will work with China to block any move to authorize military intervention.

Reuters