Members of the first U.N. monitoring team in Syria arrive in Damascus
after a visit to Homs city where there were protests against the regime
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (Reuters)
By AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES
International mediator Kofi Annan said on Sunday that the U.N. Security Council’s decision to deploy the further 300 ceasefire monitors in Syria marked a “pivotal moment for the stabilization of the country.”
In a statement issued in Geneva, he called on both Syrian government forces and opposition fighters to put down their weapons and work with the unarmed observers to consolidate the fragile ceasefire that took effect 10 days ago.
“The government in particular must desist from the use of heavy weapons and, as it has committed, withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centers and implement fully its commitments under the six-point plan,” Annan said, referring to his plan accepted by both sides to end 13 months of violence.
But Syrian troops shelled districts in a suburb of the capital Damascus, activists said early Sunday, as an advance team of United Nations observers began touring Syrian hot spots.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network says explosions in Douma, 10 kilometers northwest of Damascus, were reported early Sunday as troops stormed neighborhoods in the sprawling suburb.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people were killed in the town of Douma and one in the village of Htaita.
By AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES
International mediator Kofi Annan said on Sunday that the U.N. Security Council’s decision to deploy the further 300 ceasefire monitors in Syria marked a “pivotal moment for the stabilization of the country.”
In a statement issued in Geneva, he called on both Syrian government forces and opposition fighters to put down their weapons and work with the unarmed observers to consolidate the fragile ceasefire that took effect 10 days ago.
“The government in particular must desist from the use of heavy weapons and, as it has committed, withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centers and implement fully its commitments under the six-point plan,” Annan said, referring to his plan accepted by both sides to end 13 months of violence.
But Syrian troops shelled districts in a suburb of the capital Damascus, activists said early Sunday, as an advance team of United Nations observers began touring Syrian hot spots.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network says explosions in Douma, 10 kilometers northwest of Damascus, were reported early Sunday as troops stormed neighborhoods in the sprawling suburb.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people were killed in the town of Douma and one in the village of Htaita.
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