military forces from streets, to stop violence from protesters. they ve been on the ground about 48 hours. their initial statements are so far stunning. the chief monitor of this arab league observer force s sudanese commander. not only a commander but also the former head of foreign intelligence in the government of omar al bashir, a man wanted by the international criminal court for genocide in crimes against humanity. more on that in a moment. today, the head of the arab league team in syria told reuters that, quote, things were calm and there were no clashes in homs, which has for months seen some of the deadliest violence. he went on to say, the situation seems reassuring so far. he also said, some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening. nothing frightening. that is not what we have been hearing from people in and around homs for months and it s not what you will hear tonight from a reporter that snuck into that city and returned. the footage he