Syria wakes to fragile cease-fire
Source: Agencies |
April 13, 2012, Friday
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A FRAGILE cease-fire brokered by the United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan took hold in Syria yesterday with government forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition.
But there were reports of scattered violence and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the onus was on President Bashar Assad's government to keep the peace.
"As of this moment, the situation looks calmer," he told reporters in Geneva. But the cease-fire is "very fragile" and a single gunshot could derail the process, he added.
Annan said Ban will now ask the UN Security Council for speedy deployment of an observer mission. He said this would allow "a serious political dialogue" to quickly address the Syrian people's concerns and aspirations.
Annan said he was encouraged that the cease-fire appeared to be holding and called on the government and rebels to fully implement his peace plan.
In a statement issued before his closed-door briefing to the UN Security Council, Annan said the plan included military provisions requiring the withdrawal of troops and heavy military equipment from towns and cities and a commitment to move to a political process.
Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after the cease-fire took effect at dawn, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days. But troops and tanks were still in position inside many towns.
The exile opposition, calling the truce "only partially observed" due to that failure to withdraw, urged a renewal of mass protests today.
The Interior Ministry urged rebels to surrender, promising to free those who had not killed, and broadcast an appeal to the thousands who fled battered cities such as Homs and Hama to return from the havens they had found in Turkey, Lebanon and within Syria.
Government spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Damascus was "fully committed" to Annan's success.
A Norwegian general who has spent the past week in Damascus discussing a UN peace observer mission said he was "cautiously optimistic." But Major General Robert Mood, who was briefing Annan in Geneva, told Norway's NTB news agency: "Both sides are plagued by a very high degree of mutual suspicion. It's terribly difficult for them to cross that abyss."
China's Foreign Ministry called on the opposition to honor the truce, something the disparate rebel movements have said they are willing to do.
"China welcomes the government's relevant decision, which will help to ease tensions," the ministry said in a statement. "China also calls on the Syrian armed opposition to immediately cease fire and implement Annan's six-point proposal."
But there were reports of scattered violence and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the onus was on President Bashar Assad's government to keep the peace.
"As of this moment, the situation looks calmer," he told reporters in Geneva. But the cease-fire is "very fragile" and a single gunshot could derail the process, he added.
Annan said Ban will now ask the UN Security Council for speedy deployment of an observer mission. He said this would allow "a serious political dialogue" to quickly address the Syrian people's concerns and aspirations.
Annan said he was encouraged that the cease-fire appeared to be holding and called on the government and rebels to fully implement his peace plan.
In a statement issued before his closed-door briefing to the UN Security Council, Annan said the plan included military provisions requiring the withdrawal of troops and heavy military equipment from towns and cities and a commitment to move to a political process.
Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after the cease-fire took effect at dawn, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days. But troops and tanks were still in position inside many towns.
The exile opposition, calling the truce "only partially observed" due to that failure to withdraw, urged a renewal of mass protests today.
The Interior Ministry urged rebels to surrender, promising to free those who had not killed, and broadcast an appeal to the thousands who fled battered cities such as Homs and Hama to return from the havens they had found in Turkey, Lebanon and within Syria.
Government spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Damascus was "fully committed" to Annan's success.
A Norwegian general who has spent the past week in Damascus discussing a UN peace observer mission said he was "cautiously optimistic." But Major General Robert Mood, who was briefing Annan in Geneva, told Norway's NTB news agency: "Both sides are plagued by a very high degree of mutual suspicion. It's terribly difficult for them to cross that abyss."
China's Foreign Ministry called on the opposition to honor the truce, something the disparate rebel movements have said they are willing to do.
"China welcomes the government's relevant decision, which will help to ease tensions," the ministry said in a statement. "China also calls on the Syrian armed opposition to immediately cease fire and implement Annan's six-point proposal."
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