Syria warns West against intervention

2:10am UK, Sunday April 08, 2012

Emma Hurd, Middle East correspondent

More than 100 people are reported to have been killed by the latest wave of government attacks in Syria, just days before the deadline for a ceasefire.
Residents in the town of Latamna, in the province of Hama, claimed 40 civilians had died in what they described as a "massacre".

They said government forces had bombarded the town with artillery and gunfire.



April 10 is the deadline for the Syrian regime to halt the violence

Videos posted online showed rows of bodies, shrouded in white cloth, lined up for burial.

Another video, said to have been filmed in Homs, showed the bloodied corpses of at least a dozen young men who activists said had been executed.

Some appeared to have their hands bound.

Attacks by government forces have reportedly intensified in some areas of the country, including Hama, Homs and Idlib, ahead of the April 10 deadline for the regime to halt the violence and withdraw its troops from populated areas.

The government of President Bashar al Assad agreed to the ceasefire brokered by the joint envoy for the UN and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, but there is little sign of it being implemented.

Under the peace plan, rebel fighters are meant to halt their attacks within 48 hours of the withdrawal of the regime's forces.

Syrian activists claim the deal is another ruse by Mr Assad, who has flouted previous agreements to halt the violence that has claimed at least 9,000 lives over the past year.

Western nations are also sceptical about the regime's intentions.

The UN Security Council has endorsed a statement that includes the possibility of "further measures" being considered if the government does not implement the ceasefire.

But Russia and China have refused to back any punitive action - including sanctions - against the Syrian regime.

At least 2,800 Syrians have fled across the border into Turkey in the past few days, swelling the number of refugees living the camps to 24,000.

The UN's refugee agency says it is ready to offer assistance to the Turkish government to deal with the influx.

CNN) -- Syria will not commit to pulling armed forces from cities only to have "armed terrorist groups" commit attacks, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday.

The comments, made by Jihad Maqdisi on state-run TV, came two days before a Tuesday deadline for regime forces to withdraw from cities, which the government had agreed to as part of a peace plan laid out by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.

But "Annan did not give written assurances that the armed groups would turn in their weapons," Makdissi said.

Annan has said he expects rebel fighters to also cease fire after the Tuesday deadline, but the deadline itself was for regime forces to withdraw from cities.



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Syria: Forces face conflict deadline "Syria will not repeat what happened during the (Arab League) mission, when it committed to the exit of its armed forces from the cities and surrounding areas, then the armed terrorist groups took advantage to arm its members and conduct all forms of terrorism," Makdissi said, referring to an Arab League monitoring mission that took place several months ago.

Throughout the more than year-long uprising against the regime, the Syrian government has consistently blamed violence on "armed terrorist groups." But U.N. and other world leaders have said the government is engaged in a violent crackdown.

Reports from Syrian opposition activists suggest government forces are slaughtering civilians in an attempt to wipe out dissidents seeking President Bashar al-Assad's ouster. The al-Assad family has ruled Syria for 42 years.

Rebel fighters have taken up arms, but their strength has often paled in comparison to the better-equipped regime troops.

At least 12 people were killed in fresh violence across the country Sunday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists. The deaths included three in Hama; four in Homs; two in Deir Ezzor; two in Idlib, and one in Aleppo.

The group also said at least 127 people were killed on Saturday, including 59 deaths in Hama.

The LCC said Syrian forces have been targeting civilians displaced from their homes by earlier fighting.

Specifically, the LCC said, the regime is attacking villages and farms around the eastern city of Rastan, where fighting a month ago forced out more than 80% of residents. They escaped to the nearby areas but are now coming under attack, the group said Saturday.

Syria said Sunday that the bodies of six "army and law enforcement martyrs" were buried.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths, as the government has severely restricted access to international media.

On Sunday morning, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency made little mention of any new violence but showed images of packed demonstrations that it said took place a day earlier.

"Syrian citizens in all the Syrian provinces on Saturday flocked to the main squares to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Baath Arab Socialist Party," SANA said. "The participants in the rallies expressed the Syrian people, army and leadership's steadfastness in the face of the conspiracy hatched against Syria."

One LCC activist in Homs, identified only as Saleem for safety reasons, described a massacre outside a local school that the Syrian army used to launch offensives and detain people.

Saleem said the bodies of 13 people, including youths, were found with signs of torture.

"The truth is we have become used to such massacres. We have seen people beheaded, children killed, bodies torn apart, and nothing surprises us anymore," Saleem said Saturday. "All we could do is pray to all for help and call on the world to intervene."

Annan's six-point plan for Syria includes calls for a cease-fire by both sides and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis.

SANA reported Saturday that the government sent two identical letters to the president of the U.N. Security Council and to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accusing Arab and Western countries of backing the armed groups.

In the letters, Syria claimed that "terrorist acts committed by the armed terrorist groups in Syria have increased during the last few days, particularly after reaching an understanding on Kofi Annan's plan," according to SANA.

The letters said 2,088 Syrian forces and 478 police officers have been killed.

The United Nations estimates that the fighting in Syria, which began a year ago, has killed at least 9,000 people. The LCC puts the toll at more than 11,000.

CNN's Ivan Watson, Kareem Khadder, Samira Said, Salma Abdelaziz and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

Apr 8, 3:15 PM EDT


Syria scuttles truce plan with new demands

By KARIN LAUB
Associated Press





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Indictment of Monzer al-Kassar


Latest Syria News
Syria scuttles truce plan with new demands
Gulf plan could be blank check for Syrian rebels








BEIRUT (AP) -- A U.N.-brokered plan to stop the bloodshed in Syria effectively collapsed Sunday after President Bashar Assad's government raised new, last-minute demands that the country's largest rebel group swiftly rejected.

The truce plan, devised by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, was supposed to go into effect on Tuesday, with a withdrawal of Syrian forces from population centers, followed within 48 hours by a cease-fire by both sides in the uprising against four decades of repressive rule by the Assad family.

But on Sunday, Syria's Foreign Ministry said that ahead of any troop pullback, the government needs written guarantees from opposition fighters that they will lay down their weapons.

The commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Riad al-Asaad, said that while his group is ready to abide by a truce, it does not recognize the regime "and for that reason we will not give guarantees."

Annan's spokesman had no comment on the setback. The envoy has not said what would happen if his deadlines were ignored.

Even before the setback, expectations were low that the Assad regime would honor the agreement.

Russia, an Assad ally that supports the cease-fire plan, may now be the only one able to salvage it. The rest of the international community, unwilling to contemplate military intervention, has little leverage over Syria.

In recent days, instead of preparing for a withdrawal, regime troops have stepped up shelling attacks on residential areas, killing dozens of civilians every day in what the opposition described as a frenzied rush to gain ground. Activists said at least 21 people were killed in violence on Sunday and as many as 40.

"Mortar rounds are falling like rain," said activist Tarek Badrakhan, describing an assault in the central city of Homs on Sunday. He spoke via Skype as explosions were heard in the background. The regime is exploiting the truce plan "to kill and commit massacres," he said.

Just as Annan complained Sunday that the escalation was "unacceptable," Syria said its acceptance of the Annan deal last week was misunderstood and suggested it would not be able to withdraw its troops under current conditions.

In addition to demanding written guarantees from the opposition, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said Syria also wants assurances from Annan that Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia - Assad's most active critics - halt "financing and arming of terrorist groups."

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are said to be creating a multimillion dollar fund to pay rebel fighters, while Turkey has floated the idea of creating buffer zones for refugees in Syrian territory, near the Turkish border.

Many had expected the Assad regime to stall and create new obstacles to a truce because it has little to fear from the international community, said Peter Harling, an analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

"Nothing seems to have a price tag," he said, noting that regime has been accused of shelling whole neighborhoods, exacting collective punishment and driving people out of their homes.

The regime might also be reluctant to move forward for fear of losing control.

While Annan's plan calls for eventual negotiations between the government and the opposition over Syria's political future, anti-regime activists say huge numbers of protesters would probably flood the streets and quickly topple Assad if he were forced to halt his yearlong crackdown.

Makdessi, the Syrian official, suggested that a truce without guarantees would give rebels the upper hand. He said Syria will not allow a repeat of what happened during the Arab League's observer mission in Syria in January, when Assad pulled back his forces, only to see rebels flood the vacated areas.

The Syrian foreign minister is expected in Moscow on Monday, but it is not clear whether Russia will step in to try to salvage the Annan plan it had supported enthusiastically.

Despite growing criticism of Assad, Russia has consistently shielded him from international condemnation.

Since the Syrian uprising erupted in March 2011, more than 9,000 people have been killed, the U.N. says.

On Sunday, Syrian forces pounded towns in the center and north of the country.

Activists said rebel fighters shot down a Syrian army helicopter with a heavy machine gun in northwestern Idlib province. The report came from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Idlib activist Fadi al-Yassin, both citing multiple witnesses. Al-Yassin said witnesses saw the helicopter crash to the ground, and that fighters were trying to make their way to the area.

Syria restricts access of foreign journalists, and activists' reports cannot be confirmed independently. There was no official comment.

Some of the heaviest fighting of the day was in Homs, where government troops attacked several rebel-held neighborhoods, said Badrakhan, the local activist.

In the Khaldiyeh neighborhood, 40 bodies were piled in a room in a makeshift hospital because the constant shelling has prevented burials, he said, adding that activists are aiming fans at the corpses so they won't decompose quickly.

"We might have to bury them in public gardens," he said.

Near the capital of Damascus, government troops raided the suburbs of Darya, Douma and Beit Jin.

The grassroots Local Coordination Committees put the day's death toll on the opposition side at 45, including six children. It said nine people were killed in Homs and 13 in Hama province, among them seven members of one family. The Observatory reported at least 21 civilians killed in fighting and shelling by government forces, along with seven rebel fighters and 12 soldiers.

---

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed reporting.

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7:10pm UK, Sunday April 08, 2012

Emma Hurd, Middle East correspondent

UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan has described the escalation in the violence in Syria as “unacceptable” and called for the government to abide by its promises to halt the violence.

An agreed April 10 deadline for a ceasefire has been thrown into fresh doubt after the regime demanded "written guarantees" that the rebels would halt their attacks ahead of any withdrawal of government troops.

The Syrian foreign ministry said Mr Annan had failed to provide written agreements for the "armed terrorist groups to stop the violence in all its forms".



Kofi Annan has condemned the upsurge in violence in Syria

The commander of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al Assad, responded by saying his group would not provide guarantees in writing as the group does not recognise the government of President Bashar al Assad.

Col al Assad said if the regime withdraws its forces his fighters will comply with the ceasefire.

The Syrian government had agreed to withdraw its forces from populated areas by Tuesday under a six-point peace plan brokered by Mr Annan.

The rebel fighters were meant to abide by the ceasefire within 48 hours of the withdrawal.


May there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community.

Pope Benedict XVI
Syria's implementation of the deal had already been in doubt after a sharp increase in the violence in several towns and cities which has left more than 100 dead in the past 24 hours.

"I am shocked by the recent reports of a surge in the violence and atrocities in several towns and villages resulting in an alarming level of casualties," Mr Annan said in a statement.

Pope Benedict used his Easter Sunday message in Rome to appeal to the Syrian regime to end the violence.

"May there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community," he said.



April 10 is the deadline for the Syrian regime to halt the violence

Syrian activists say scores of civilians have been killed in assaults by government forces in Idlib province, close to the border with Turkey. Shelling has also continued in the cities of Homs and Hama.

Residents in the town of Latamna, in the province of Hama, claimed 40 civilians had died in what they described as a "massacre".

They said government forces had bombarded the town with artillery and gunfire.

Videos posted online showed rows of bodies, shrouded in white cloth, lined up for burial.

Another video, said to have been filmed in Homs, showed the bloodied corpses of at least a dozen young men who activists said had been executed.

Some appeared to have their hands bound.


Syrian activists claim the deal is another ruse by Mr Assad, who has flouted previous agreements to halt the violence that has claimed at least 9,000 lives over the past year.

Western nations are also sceptical about the regime's intentions.

The UN Security Council has endorsed a statement that includes the possibility of "further measures" being considered if the government does not implement the ceasefire.

But Russia and China have refused to back any punitive action - including sanctions - against the Syrian regime.

At least 2,800 Syrians have fled across the border into Turkey in the past few days, swelling the number of refugees living the camps to 24,000.

The UN's refugee agency says it is ready to offer assistance to the Turkish government to deal with the influx.

46pm UK, Monday April 09, 2012

Syria has provoked an international backlash by opening fire on a refugee camp inside neighbouring Turkey as violence escalated ahead of what now looks like a doomed peace deal.
The US said it was outraged that Syrian government troops had fired into the camp near Kilis in the Gaziantep province, where at least five people were wounded.


And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki moon said he "deplored" the fact violence had spilled over the country's borders.

Turkey has summoned the Syrian charge d'affaires and demanded an end to attacks on Turkish soil.



The map shows Kilis, home to the camp, inside the Turkish border

It is the first such assault since Turkey began taking in thousands of refugees last summer.

More than 24,000 people have crossed from Syria into Turkey.

At least two more refugees were killed and several injured in attacks on the Syrian side of the border, officials said.

Meanwhile, a Lebanese television cameraman working for Al Jadeed was shot dead on the country's northern border with Syria, the channel's head of news said.

Ali Shaaban was killed when the channel's film crew came under fire in the border area of Wadi Khaled.

Lebanese security officials said the gunfire came from the nearby Syrian village of Armouta.


Activist Tells Of Violence
Meanwhile 30 people - mainly women and children - were killed in Syria's central province of Hama, activists said.

The violence came as time ran out for a truce plan, devised by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, to come into effect.

The plan specifies the withdrawal of Syrian forces from residential areas, followed by a ceasefire from both sides, within 48 hours.

But on Sunday, Syria's foreign ministry made fresh demands - insisting they will only withdraw troops after a written guarantee from rebels to lay down their weapons.

That demand was swiftly rejected by the rebels and has been dismissed by the United States as an attempt to stall for time.

Riad al Asaad, Free Syrian Army commander, said he was ready to abide by a the pact, but did not recognise the regime and thus "will not give guarantees" to them.



Mr Annan's spokesman made no comment on the setback and he has not said what would happen if his deadlines were ignored.

The envoy was due in Turkey today to visit Syrian refugee camps near the border, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Even before the setback, expectations were low that the Bashar al Assad regime would honour the agreement.

Russia, an Assad regime ally that supports the ceasefire plan, may now be the only one able to salvage it.

A Russian diplomat said Moscow is working with the Syrian authorities to seek an end to violence and the start of talks with their opponents.


China urges the Syrian government and parties concerned in Syria to seize the important opportunities, to honour their commitment of ceasefire and withdrawal of troops.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin
But Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov stopped short of publicly pressing the government to meet the military withdrawal deadline.

The rest of the international community, unwilling to contemplate military intervention, has little leverage over Syria.

However, China, who along with Russia, has provided diplomatic support for Syria, urged the regime to honour the truce.

"China urges the Syrian government and parties concerned in Syria to seize the important opportunities, to honour their commitment of ceasefire and withdrawal of troops," said foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.




Bashar al-Assad met with Kofi Annan in Damascus to discuss the truce

In recent days, instead of preparing for a withdrawal, regime troops have stepped up shelling attacks on residential areas.

"Mortar rounds are falling like rain," said activist Tarek Badrakhan, describing an assault in the central city of Homs on Sunday.

He spoke via Skype as explosions were heard in the background. The regime is exploiting the truce plan "to kill and commit massacres", he said.

Mr Annan said that the escalation was "unacceptable" but Syria said its acceptance of the envoy's deal last week was misunderstood.

Instead, Mr Assad's government has suggested it would not be able to withdraw its troops under current conditions.



Recent weeks have seen a number of car bomb attacks in Damascus

In addition to requesting written guarantees from the opposition, foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi has made several other demands.

The government wants assurances from Annan that Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia - Assad's most active critics - halt "financing and arming of terrorist groups".

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are said to be creating a multimillion dollar fund to pay rebel fighters.

Turkey, meanwhile, has floated the idea of creating buffer zones for refugees in Syrian territory, near the Turkish border.

Many had expected the Assad regime to stall and create new obstacles to a truce because it has little to fear from the international community, say analysts.

9 April 2012 Last updated at 18:50 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page



Turkey has protested after Syrian forces opened fire across the border, in the first such attack since Turkey began housing refugees from the unrest.

Ankara summoned Syria's envoy after two incidents in which violence spilled over into Turkey, leaving at least two people dead and many injured.

Separately, a Lebanese cameraman was shot dead on the Syria-Lebanon border.

The violence comes amid fading hopes that a UN-brokered Syria ceasefire will start on Tuesday as planned.

Monday has proved to be one of the bloodiest days of the uprising despite the truce deal, which should be marked by troop withdrawals from towns and cities if it is being implemented.

Activists reported more than 100 deaths - among them at least 30 civilians who died during Syrian army bombardment in the central province of Hama.

Harrowing scenes were reported in the town of al-Latmana, where 17 women and eight children were said to have been crushed under the rubble of their homes in the second attack on the area in days.

The deaths come as a report by Human Rights Watch accused Syrian forces of carrying out more than 100 summary executions since March. The report says most of the victims were civilians.

Annan visit
Continue reading the main story
Analysis

Jim Muir

BBC News, Beirut

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turkey is furious at the latest violence spilling over the border from Syria. These are serious incidents which will exacerbate already high political tensions between Turkey and Syria.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is already very concerned about the conduct of the counter-insurgency in Syria. He has strongly insisted on changes by the Syrian government and is gravely disappointed with his former ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

President Assad is facing growing pressure from Turkey for some kind of action, perhaps involving a protected buffer zone or corridor, inside Syria.

It is all speculation at the moment, but this is the kind of thinking that could emerge the more we have these kinds of incidents and the more the peace process in Syria stumbles.

In the first of the skirmishes on the Turkish border at least two people died after people crossing from Syria into Turkey at Kilis were shot at by the Syrian army. The governor of Kilis told the BBC that 18 people were also wounded.

In the second incident two Syrian refugees and a Turkish translator were wounded inside a refugee camp after being hit by stray bullets from clashes between Syrian rebels and troops, according to Turkey's foreign affairs ministry.

Turkey summoned Syria's envoy to demand an immediate halt to such violence.

In a separate incident, a Lebanese cameraman for Lebanon's Al-Jadeed television channel was shot dead amid gunfire in the border region between Syria and Lebanon's northern Wadi Khaled district.

Ali Shaaban was killed and a colleague injured when a film crew from Al-Jadeed came under a hail of bullets from troops on the Syrian side of the border.

Lebanon's prime minister condemned the killing of Mr Shaaban.


The BBC's Jonathan Head, on the Turkey-Syria border, says the Syrian army has been careful to keep away from the border but that seems to have broken down this time.

He says incidents like this have inflamed emotions in Turkey and the Turkish government has almost given up on the ceasefire plan, brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Turkey has seen a sharp rise in the number of refugees coming over the border in the past week, and now hosts some 24,000 Syrians, including hundreds of army defectors.

Mr Annan will briefly visit Syrian refugees on the Turkish border on Tuesday, reports say.

Deadline 'void'

However, there are now serious doubts about whether Mr Annan's ceasefire plan will come into effect on its Tuesday deadline.

Continue reading the main story
Ceasefire timetable
10 April: Government must withdraw troops and heavy weapons such as tanks from towns, cities and villages
Following 48 hours: Ceasefire to be implemented on the ground with the onus on the opposition to follow the government's lead
06:00 local time on 12 April: All forms of violence must be stopped on all sides
Next step: All parties to hold talks on a political solution

After having earlier agreed to Mr Annan's plan, Damascus on Sunday called for written guarantees from rebel fighters to end attacks and a promise from foreign states not to fund them.

It said it did not want the rebels to exploit any troop withdrawal to reorganise and rearm themselves. The rebel Free Syrian Army said although it backed the UN-Arab League truce, it refused to meet the government's new demands.

Brazilian diplomat Paulo Pinheiro, who is chairing a UN inquiry into the Syrian conflict, said the demands made by Syria were almost "impossible" to meet.

"I think that everybody in the world is worried that at the eve of the deadline, the government of Syria - instead of preparing to retreat - has escalated the military offensive," Mr Pinheiro said.

China on Monday called on the government and opposition in Syria to "honour their commitment of ceasefire and withdrawal of troops". But correspondents say Russia, Syria's main ally, may now have to play a crucial role. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem is in Moscow for talks.

The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed in the uprising against Mr Assad's rule which began more than a year ago.

The Syrian government says 2,000 security personnel have been killed in the uprising and blames the violence on "armed gangs" and "terrorists

11 April 2012 Last updated at 01:43 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page



The UN Security Council has urged Syria's leaders to fundamentally change course, more than 24 hours before a ceasefire is due to take effect.

Expressing deep concern over a report by envoy Kofi Annan, the council said it was essential to see visible signs of change in Syria's military posture.

Mr Annan told the council that military operations were continuing against civilian targets.

However, there were reports of some troop withdrawals.

Activists in Syria say that at least 37 bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in the Deir Baalba quarter in the city of Homs.

'Grave concern'
Continue reading the main story
Ceasefire timetable
10 April: Government must withdraw troops and heavy weapons such as tanks from towns, cities and villages
Following 48 hours: Ceasefire to be implemented on the ground with the onus on the opposition to follow the government's lead
06:00 local time on 12 April: All forms of violence must be stopped on all sides
Next step: All parties to hold talks on a political solution

US Ambassador Susan Rice, who currently chairs the council, expressed dismay that the Syrian government had apparently failed to start withdrawing its troops and heavy weapons from cities by Tuesday morning, as stipulated in Mr Annan's plan.

"Members of the council are unified in their grave concern that this deadline has passed and the violence has not only continued but over the last 10 days has intensified," she said.

"The Syrian leadership should now seize the opportunity to make a fundamental change of course.

"It's essential that the next 48 hours bring visible signs of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government forces throughout the country."

Mr Annan wrote in a report to the Security Council that the Syrian army was continuing operations in population centres.

Syrian opposition activists said at least 60 people were killed as the army shelled a number of towns.

But despite the clashes, Mr Annan said his peace plan was still alive as he urged both sides to stop fighting.

"The days before 10 April should have been an opportunity for the government of Syria to send a powerful political signal of peace, with action on all aspects of the six-point plan," he wrote.

Ceasefire at risk

Under his plan, sponsored by the UN and the Arab League, Syrian troops were to have completed their withdrawal from population centres and stopped the use of heavy weaponry by Tuesday, ahead of a full ceasefire coming into place on Thursday morning.

Continue reading the main story “
Start Quote
It may be too early to draw a definitive line under Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria, but it is not looking in terribly good health”
End Quote
Jonathan Marcus

BBC Diplomatic Correspondent

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annan plan ailing but not dead

Damascus had agreed to the deadline, but on Sunday demanded written guarantees first that its opponents would give up arms, along with a promise from foreign states not to fund them.

Mr Annan told the Security Council that this new demand put the cessation of violence at risk.

Shelling was reported in several cities on Tuesday, including Homs, a centre of resistance to the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the rebellion broke out in March last year.

At least 28 people were killed there, said the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network.

The LCC said 20 people were killed in Hama, while there were further deaths in Aleppo and Idlib in the north, Deraa in the south and in a Damascus suburb.

Mr Annan said there was still a chance to salvage the peace plan.

"It is essential that the next 48 hours bring visible signs of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government forces throughout the country," he told the Security Council.

He added that the opposition should also stop fighting in order to "give no excuse for the government to renege on its commitments".

Syrian opposition activists said operations against them have stepped up in the last week
Permanent members Russia and China, who hold vetoes over council decisions, have prevented resolutions condemning Damascus but have backed Mr Annan's peace plan.

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN says there is no guarantee that they will now agree to any tougher action proposed by Western countries.

Russia is one of Syria's closest allies.

'Terrorist gangs'

Speaking earlier in Turkey, after visiting a camp for Syrian refugees, Mr Annan said it was too early to say his plan had failed.

"It is a plan the [UN Security] Council has endorsed. It's a plan the Syrians have endorsed and from the comments made by the opposition, they are also prepared to go along with it if the government meets its commitments to pull the troops out. So I think the plan is very much alive."

Continue reading the main story
Annan's six-point peace plan
1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people

2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully

Speaking in Moscow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the withdrawal had begun in some areas, but that the ceasefire should be timed to the arrival of international monitors - something Mr Annan said he was working towards.

Syrian opposition representatives have said they are committed to the peace plan but that if government troops did not stop firing by Thursday, they would intensify their own operations.

The Russian foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had urged Mr Annan in a telephone call to put pressure on countries backing the Syrian opposition to make sure they stuck to the ceasefire plan.

Earlier he said the Syrian government "could have been more active and decisive" in implementing the plan, but that Mr Muallem had assured him Damascus was committed to it.

(CNN) -- In between taking care of their families, working and trying to keep up with everyday life, many Americans have caught at least a couple stories about Syria. Many probably know that clashes between government forces and protesters who want the country's president to relinquish power have become increasingly bloody over the past several months. Much of that violence has been represented in online videos, ostensibly that Syrians have posted, suggesting the slaughter of children and families.

It's horrible. No one would argue anything else. But there is violence in many corners of the world. Why should what's happening in Syria be especially important to Americans? It's clear a lot of people think it's not. Several readers reacted to Tuesday's top story on CNN about Syria by commenting: "Zzzzzz not our problem" and "Anyone surprised? *yawn*."

"We are afraid to ask this question -- 'Why care?' -- because it's like saying we don't mind that there's a humanitarian crisis happening or that people are suffering," said Hillary Mann Leverett, a Washington-based professor, blogger and one of the nation's foremost Middle East and Syria experts. She is a former National Security Council adviser to President George W. Bush and has interviewed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a book about Syria authored by her husband, Flynt Leverett, also a Middle East expert.

"People have to know it's allowed to take a discussion beyond the human suffering," she said. "There are huge, practical consequences for the United States when it comes to Syria."

Like what?



Rice: Blood is on hands of China, Russia

Does Syrian path to peace exist?

Russia: Syria must do more to get peace

Annan to visit Syrian refugee camps CNN asked Hillary Mann Leverett; Joseph Holliday, a former U.S. soldier turned foreign policy analyst; and Robert Zarate, a geopolitical strategist with Capitol Hill experience, to explain why Americans should care about Syria.

1. Geography. Think of Syria as the Middle East's core. When it's weak and destabilized, the body is susceptible to serious injury. Violence in Syria could easily spill into bordering Iraq, where the United States recently ended a war that ran from March 2003 to December 2011 and where U.S. troops and American civilians still work.

Beyond Iraq, Turkey, a U.S. ally, borders Syria as do Jordan and Lebanon. If Lebanon is shaken too badly by conflict in Syria, Lebanon could fall into a civil war as it did decades ago, Holliday said. That kind of conflict would spark yet another serious political and diplomatic problem that the United States would inevitably have to address.

2. Al Qaeda. The United States' No. 1 enemy would appreciate another failed state from which to operate in the Middle East.

3. Iran. Syria supports Iran. Iran has had a contentious relationship with the United States for decades. Remember Bush's "Axis of Evil"? That trifecta was Iran, North Korea and Iraq.

"Syria is Iran's arm in the Middle East," Zarate said. "Iran has used Syria as a staging ground to train and support militants who have crossed into Iraq to hurt our troops and to train for other terrorist activities."

Each expert CNN spoke with pointed out that Iran has a nuclear program. Whether it has capabilities for nuclear weapons is something the United States and most of the world doesn't know.

4. Oil prices. Though Syria produces far less oil than Libya, for example, violence in Syria could affect global oil speculation and prices, Leverett said. Ultimately, that affects how much American consumers pay at the pump.

5. The economy, stupid. Leverett and Zarate note that many in the United States may not think about the Iraq war now, but they say it's important not to forget that war cost an estimated $1 trillion. Whether one supports or opposes military intervention in Syria, the costs incurred by any approach will affect the American economy.

6. Global reputation. "People around the world are looking for some kind of consistency in our foreign policy, and we've been criticized for not having that, not having anything close to consistency during the Arab Spring," Zarate said.

The United States intervened, with NATO leading the way, in Libya. In 2011, Washington supported, at least in words, the Egyptians in their revolt against then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he said. Each time, the United States argued that those actions were in accordance with America's national values, he said, and its responsibility as a global leader to defend democratic principles.

The BBC's Jim Muir, in Beirut, says there are many issues that must be overcome in order for the ceasefire to hold

A Syrian ceasefire proposed by UN envoy Kofi Annan has come into force, but Western countries have publicly doubted Syria's willingness to stick to it.

Syria has said it would abide by the ceasefire but reserved the right to respond to attacks. The US earlier said the government's pledge appeared to have "little if any credibility".

Correspondents say the ceasefire appears to be largely holding so far.

The main armed rebel group said it would respond to any government attack.

Mr Annan received written assurances from the Syrian foreign ministry that government troops would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 06:00 (03:00 GMT)... while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups", his spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi said.

"An hour after the ultimatum expired, the situation is calm in all regions," Rami Abdel Rahman, chairman of the London-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory, told the AFP news agency.

If the ceasefire does hold, the focus is expected to fall on the withdrawal of government troops, tanks and heavy weaponry. That step was supposed to have been completed on Tuesday, the BBC's correspondent in Beirut, Jim Muir, says.

There were some reports of shooting and shellfire early on Thursday in cities including Idlib and suburbs of the capital, Damascus, says our correspondent, but the truce appeared to be largely holding.

However, there is a long way to go before the situation can be considered stable, he adds, and there are many complicated issues to resolve before political progress can begin.

Commitments 'broken'

US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice described the caveats in the letter from Syria as "worrying" and added that the onus was on the regime to halt the violence.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis

Jim Muir

BBC News, Beirut

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A huge amount of pressure has been mounted to bring about the agreement of all sides to the Annan truce.

Above all, Russia must have exerted powerful influence behind the scenes to induce the change of tune by the Damascus regime.

China and Iran, Syria's other two important international friends, have also strongly backed the Annan mission and may have helped bend President Bashar al-Assad's ear.

Mr Annan's priority was to stop the carnage. If that can be achieved, and stabilised by the insertion of UN observers, huge challenges will remain - above all, working towards an workable political settlement.

Again, Russia is poised to play a crucial role. Much will depend on what vision it has for Syria's future - perhaps regime mutation rather than the regime change sought by the opposition and its western backers.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that if there was a ceasefire, the UK would work at the United Nations to send monitors to Syria urgently "to make sure they can't slide back to renewed conflict".

"If there isn't a ceasefire... we will want to return to Security Council in a new attempt to obtain a resolution on Syria, we'll intensify our support for the opposition and we will seek stronger sanctions," he added.

Following a phone call between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama, the two leaders said they "shared the concern that the Assad government was not complying with the terms of the agreement negotiated by Kofi Annan".

Russia and China, who have both blocked previous UN Security Council action against Syria, both welcomed the ceasefire but said the rebels must respond in kind.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Washington DC on Thursday during a G8 foreign ministers summit.

'Regime won't stop'

Violence had continued on Wednesday, especially in the city of Homs.

Activists said at least 30 people were killed in offensives around the country, including the north and north-west, a valley west of Damascus, and in the south, near Deraa.

A spokesman for the main rebel force, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said the ceasefire was unlikely to take effect because neither side would stop shooting.

Footage purporting to show clashes in Homs on Wednesday has been posted online
"If the other side stopped, the Syrian people would march on the president's palace on the same day. This means the regime won't stop," Captain Ayham al-Kurdi said in a BBC interview on the Turkey-Syria border.

If Mr Annan's peace plan fails, some members of the Security Council have said they will push for tougher action. Correspondents say this may not necessarily mean military intervention, but perhaps sanctions.

Some influential voices in the US Congress have also been calling for the Syrian opposition to be armed.

President Obama has opposed that course of action, but on Wednesday he met the defence minister of Saudi Arabia, which supports arming the opposition.

Any further action would need the agreement of Russia and China.

Mr Annan is due to brief the UN Security Council later on Thursday.

The UN estimates about 9,000 people have died since anti-government protests began in March 2011. In February, the Syrian government put the death toll at 3,838 - 2,493 civilians and 1,345 security forces personnel.

Apr 12, 3:22 AM EDT


Lull in Syria fighting after UN truce deadline

By BASSEM MROUE and KARIN LAUB
Associated Press










BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian flashpoints of the 13-month uprising against President Bashar Assad were quiet Thursday, activists said, suggesting a U.N.-brokered truce was starting to take hold and the regime was keeping a pledge to halt its assault on opposition strongholds.

However, in a sign of a continued clampdown, activists said troops and tanks were seen patrolling restive areas Thursday in violation of the truce plan by U.N.-Arab league envoy Kofi Annan, who demanded that Syrian forces return to their barracks.

And expectations for a durable cease-fire remained low since the government has broken promises in the past and says it reserves the right to respond to attacks - potentially an easy pretext for evading compliance.

Under Annan's internationally backed initiative, a Thursday morning cease-fire is to be followed by the deployment of international observers and talks between the regime and the opposition on a political transition.

However, the Syrian opposition and its supporters in the West remain skeptical about the regime's intentions, since a cease-fire could encourage large numbers of protesters to flood the streets, as they did at the start of the revolt against the four-decade rule of the Assad clan. The government met those demonstrations with a harsh crackdown, and bloodshed since then has claimed more than 9,000 lives.

Still, opposition activists said the 6 a.m. Thursday truce deadline passed without reports of major violence.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said all of Syria's flashpoints in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, the northern regions of Idlib and Aleppo, the capital Damascus and its suburbs, as well as Daraa to the south and Deir el-Zour to the east were quiet.

"Nothing is happening in these hotspots so far," said Abdul-Rahman.

However, Syrian troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers continued to patrol several opposition strongholds, activists said.

"Checkpoints and tanks were not withdrawn," said Maath al-Shami, a Damascus-based activist. "They are still as they were but there has so far been no shooting since six in the morning."

Assad apparently is unwilling to ease control over opposition areas for fear of widespread anti-government protests.

A major test could come on Friday, the day of weekly anti-government marches. Since the outbreak of the protests in March 2011, thousands have taken to the streets after Friday Muslim noon prayers to demand Assad's ouster.

The government denies that it is facing a popular uprising, claiming instead that terrorists are carrying out a foreign conspiracy to destroy Syria. In pledging Wednesday to observe the cease-fire, the government set a major condition, saying troops reserve the right to defend themselves if attacked.

The rebel Free Syrian Army has said it will abide by the cease-fire. But the opposition is not well organized, and there are growing fears of groups looking to exploit the chaos.

The lull reported Thursday was the first break in fighting in more than two months.

Syrian troops have been on a major offensive since late January when they attacked rebel-held areas around the capital Damascus. During the first week of February, Assad's forces began a major campaign to retake the Baba Amr neighborhood in the city of Homs that fell in the hands of the regime in early March.

Since then, Assad's forces have been retaking major rebel-held areas including the city of Idlib as well as many towns around the country. Troops also now control much of the areas that border Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq making it more difficult for refugees to leave the country. Despite the regime gains, rebels still held some areas, including spots in the province of Homs, Hama, Daraa.

In the city of Homs, activist Tarek Badrakhan said no explosions or shelling were heard since 10 p.m. Wednesday, but that army vehicles were still in the streets on Thursday. Homs has been battered by daily shelling for the past three weeks, and Badrakhan said many homes in his neighborhood of Khaldiyeh were damaged or destroyed.

A cease-fire could pose a major risk for the Assad regime.

Many activists predict that huge numbers of protesters would flood the streets if Assad pulls his forces back to barracks. The military crackdown over the past year succeeded in preventing protesters from recreating the fervor of Egypt's Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands of people camped out in a powerful show of dissent that drove longtime leader Hosni Mubarak from power.

On Wednesday, the White House cautioned that the Assad regime has reneged on promises to stop the violence in the past.

"What is important to remember is that we judge the Assad's regime by its actions and not by their promises, because their promises have proven so frequently in the past to be empty," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington.

Annan is scheduled to brief the U.N. Security Council on Thursday by videoconference from Geneva.

Western powers have pinned their hopes on Annan's plan, in part because they are running out of options. The U.N. has ruled out any military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and several rounds of sanctions and other attempts to isolate Assad have done little to stop the bloodshed.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have called for arming the rebels, but even if they follow through there is no guarantee that such efforts could cripple Assad's well-armed regime.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Protesters take to streets amid Syria's fragile truceBy the CNN Wire Staff
April 12, 2012 -- Updated 1449 GMT (2249 HKT)
Protests test Syria's cease-fireSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- Guns mostly fell silent in Syria Thursday after an early morning cease-fire took effect and cast an eerie calm over restive cities and towns that had been pounded by government forces in recent days.

"Syria is apparently experiencing a rare moment of calm on the ground," said Kofi Annan, the special envoy who brokered Syria's peace plan.

"This is bringing much-needed relief and hope to the Syrian people who have suffered so much for so long in this brutal conflict. This must now be sustained."

Amid the fragile truce, opposition groups called for peaceful demonstrations, seemingly testing whether the government would stick to its word and the United Nations chief said the world was watching Syria with skepticism.

"Today marks a critical moment in our six-point plan for ending the violence in Syria," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "At this moment, the situation looks calmer. We are following it very closely."



Blair: No confidence in what Syria says

Signs of hope in Syria conflict

When will the Syria violence end?

U.S. lawmaker: Syria a 'serious challenge' Ban said he was working with the U.N. Security Council to send in international observers as promptly as possible.

"The onus is on the government of Syria to prove that their words will be matched by their deeds this time," Ban said at a news conference in Geneva. "The world is watching, however, with skeptical eyes since many promises previously made by the government of Syria have not been kept."

Anti-regime protesters came out onto the streets in several cities including Idlib, Homs, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of opposition activists across Syria. It said troops opened fire at a checkpoint in Hama to prevent people from protesting.

Opposition activists reported sporadic violence and said President Bashar al-Assad had failed to pull back troops from population centers, another key condition of Annan's plan.

Adib al Shishakly, a member of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group of exiles, said Damascus had not abided by all six points of Annan's peace plan.

"They diluted the whole initiative into one thing: into the cease-fire only," said al Shishakly. "What happened to the other five?"

Annan's plan also calls for the release of detainees, allowing access into the country for humanitarian aid and international media and respecting the rights of peaceful demonstrators.

The heavy troop presence meant that al-Assad's guns could be pointed back at people within a moment's notice and fears rose that large protests could spark violence.

At least seven people were killed Thursday, the LCC said. Among the dead were a child and two victims of sniper's bullets. The opposition group also reported resumed shelling in a neighborhood of Homs.

Syrian state-run television said an officer was killed Thursday and 24 others wounded in a terrorist bombing in Aleppo.

CNN is unable to independently verify reports of violence and deaths as the government has severely restricted access by international media.

But for the most part, after months of slaughter, residents of hotspots throughout the beleaguered nation woke up to the quietest day in months. The peace plan set a 6 a.m. deadline for a cessation of military action.

"Interestingly, we have been only hearing the sounds of birds," said Abu Salah, a Homs resident. "However, we have seen the security forces on alert."

Annan's plan, which appeared to falter in the days ahead of the deadline, is widely seen as the last chance for a diplomatic solution to the year-long crisis in Syria.

But many Syrians and international observers questioned whether al-Assad would adhere to the cease-fire, especially after the government made it clear that it reserved the right to fire back on aggressors.

The regime has reneged on previous promises to stop violence, and al-Assad has described anti-government rebels as armed terror groups spreading mayhem in the country.

"Armed terrorist ground escalate their criminal operations in an attempt to damage Syria's stability and Annan's plan," said a headline on Syrian state-run television.

Tanks were still roaming the streets, and snipers remained perched on rooftops in some cities, according to activists.

Opposition fighters stayed in some cities to ward off attacks by government forces, activists said.

"The Free Syrian Army members remain in Homs but there have been no clashes," activist Saif al-Arab said in reference to the army of military defectors. "They perceive their role as only to defend civilians in the face of any raids."

Just before the deadline, a tank fired mortar rounds into a residential area in Zabadani, 20 miles outside of Damascus, activists said.

"It was as if Assad's forces wanted to send a last message of warning," said Rania, a local activist who did not want to use a full name for safety reasons.

About seven hours into the deadline, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported explosions and gunfire in Zabadani, Idlib, Homs and Bou Kamal.

Activists in Hama, Homs and Zabadani said there are no reports of detainees being released per Annan's mandate.

Syrian state media, SANA, reported that 106 men handed their weapons over to authorities in the Damascus and Lattakia areas, and pledged to return to normal life.

Ahead of the deadline Wednesday, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman told CNN the government was "fully committed" to the peace plan, but said the opposition will also play a role.

"People should know that I can say optimistically that 40% of the keys to solve the crisis is in our hands as government," said spokesman Jihad Makdissi. "But the other 60% is in the hands of those who are harboring, channeling weapons, instigating in the media against Syria."

Opposition groups say deaths have occurred daily at the hands of al-Assad's forces. The day before the deadline, government forces attacked several cities, killing at least 98 people, the LCC reported.

Syria's anti-government protests erupted in March 2011, followed by a bloody government crackdown.

The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have died in Syria since the protests began. The LCC puts the death toll at more than 11,000.

CNN's Amir Ahmed and Moni Basu contributed to this report.

13 April 2012 Last updated at 04:59 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page



A draft UN resolution has outlined plans to send an advance mission of 20 to 30 unarmed observers to Syria monitor compliance with a new peace plan, possibly by early next week.

The draft was prepared by the US and is expected to be voted on at the Security Council on Friday.

The observers would monitor the ceasefire and check the Syrian army was withdrawing from population centres in accordance with the peace plan.

Syria says it will accept UN monitors.

The first day of the ceasefire passed without major incident, but activists said a number of people had been killed and the government said a bomb attack had killed one soldier.

Security Council ambassadors - including Russia and China, who have vetoed previous resolutions - have all backed the idea of observers.

Fragile calm

The draft resolution calls on the Syrian government and opposition groups to comply with all aspects of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, including troop withdrawals and an end to "all armed violence in all its forms".

Continue reading the main story
Analysis

Jim Muir

BBC News, Beirut

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's widespread scepticism among the Western powers, and the Syrian opposition, about the chances of the regime really abiding by the truce.

If it does hold, the focus is expected to fall immediately on the issue of the withdrawal of government troops, tanks and heavy weaponry, a step that was supposed to have been completed on Tuesday.

There's also the question of deploying United Nations observers. An advance team which had been negotiating in Damascus over the terms of reference and operating conditions for such a mission, has now returned to Geneva, amidst reports of differences over substantive issues.

It threatens unspecified "further measures" if the Syrian government "does not implement its commitments".

Earlier on Thursday, Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin had said he hoped the Council would adopt a resolution on Friday to enable the first group of observers to be deployed within the next few days.

The ceasefire, the central element in Mr Annan's plan, formally came into effect at 06:00 (03:00 GMT) on Thursday.

Both sides reported violations. The opposition said three people were killed in the cities of Idlib and Hama, while the Syrian government said one person died after a roadside bomb exploded in Aleppo.

But as the day went on, there were no reports of major attacks by either side.

Kofi Annan said Syria had not fully complied with the deal as it had yet to withdraw troops and heavy weaponry from towns and cities.

Assad 'must go'

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the ceasefire was important but was just a first step.

Continue reading the main story
Annan's six-point peace plan
1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people

2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully

Humanitarian groups must have full access, she said, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would "have to go".

Mrs Clinton said the US supported the deployment of an advance team immediately.

But she said the group, as well as any full monitoring mission, "will need complete freedom of movement, unimpeded communications, and access throughout the country and to all Syrians, as well as firm security guarantees from all parties."

The Syrian opposition has called for major demonstrations on Friday.

'First The UN estimates about 9,000 people have died since anti-government protests began in March 2011. In February, the Syrian government put the death toll at 3,838 - 2,493 civilians and 1,345 security forces personnel.

April 2012 Last updated at 16:48 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

46ShareFacebookTwitter.Syria ceasefire: Security forces 'fire at protesters'Activist Mousab Hamdee says he doesn't believe in a monitoring mission: "We don't want people to come and watch us dying. We want people to come and liberate Syria"
Several people have been shot dead during protests in Syria, activists say, as the UN considers deploying monitors to oversee a peace plan.

Security forces fired into the air to disperse crowds in several locations. But in some, protesters were shot dead.

The demonstrations were seen as a major test of the ceasefire, in place since Thursday as part of UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace initiative.

Mr Annan wants the UN Security Council to approve plans to send observers.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
There are detainees that need to be released, humanitarian corridors need to be opened”
End Quote
Ahmed Fawzi

Spokesman for UN envoy Kofi Annan

However, Russia's permanent representative to the UN has expressed reservations about the draft, raising doubts about whether the Security Council will be able to bring it to a vote later on Friday.

Vitaly Churkin told reporters that Moscow wanted a very brief text for an advance team of up to 30 monitors to set the process in motion, giving the Security Council time to set out the full mandate for a bigger mission.

But, Mr Churkin said, the draft was much more detailed then Russia had expected, and therefore needed more negotiation. He called for a return to the "original idea" of a simple text.

The resolution, drafted by the US, also demands Damascus ensures "full and unimpeded freedom of movement throughout Syria" and guarantees the mission's ability to interview anyone "freely or in private". It threatens "further measures" if Damascus "does not implement its commitments".

'Lying'

In Syria, anti-government demonstrators poured out of mosques after Friday prayers in many areas, amid tight security precautions.

Activists published videos online showing large protests across Syria
Activists said security forces fired into the air in many places to prevent or disperse protests. But in others, protesters were killed by gunfire.

Two people were killed as demonstrators attempted to reach the main square in the central city of Hama, they added.

"We tried our best to reach Assi Square in order to show the world the truth about the regime - they are lying and will not allow us to have big, peaceful demonstrations," Mousab Hamadee, an activist in Hama, told the BBC.

"As we approached Assi Square, they started opening fire on us. Two of my colleagues were martyred," he added.

Two other people were shot dead after Friday prayers in the town of Nawa, in the southern province of Deraa, while a fifth died in the town of Salqin, in the north-western province of Idlib, activists said.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, said security forces had killed 11 people across the country, including three in Deraa and two each in Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, it added.

Continue reading the main story
Annan's six-point peace plan
1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people

2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully

The state news agency, Sana, said an army officer had been killed and 24 others injured when a bomb exploded next to a military bus in Aleppo, and that a Baath Party official had been shot dead in al-Mazarib, in Deraa province.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says it is likely to be some time before a final picture emerges of what happened.

But the impression so far is that the violence does not seem to have been as bad as many had feared, given the fact that opposition leaders were calling for a massive turnout, and troops were already being accused of shooting at demonstrators the day before, our correspondent says.

With troops, tanks and heavy weaponry still deployed in and around population centres, the truce remains extremely precarious, he adds.

Getting them back to barracks is one of Mr Annan's priorities, as is getting an advance party of observers onto the ground to monitor the ceasefire, which began at 0600 (0300 GMT) on Thursday.

'Standing by'

Mr Fawzi said the former UN secretary general's six-point peace plan had so far been "relatively respected" by both the government and armed opposition, but that he was "aware that we don't have a perfect situation".

"There are detainees that need to be released, humanitarian corridors need to be opened," he told reporters.

In addition to a ceasefire, Mr Annan's initiative calls for the withdrawal of soldiers and heavy weapons from cities, the release of prisoners, delivery of humanitarian aid and free movement for journalists.

Mr Fawzi said the advance team of 10 to 12 observers were "standing by to board planes and to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible". They could be followed by a larger mission of 250 observers, subject to UN Security Council approval.

The UN estimates that about 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011.

In February, the Syrian government put the death toll at 3,838 - 2,493 civilians and 1,345 security forces personnel

12:54pm UK, Saturday April 14, 2012

Russia has reportedly called on all sides in Syria to "strictly" obey UN envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, after forces loyal to the government shelled the city of Homs.
The reports of violence come two days after a ceasefire began and ahead of a United Nations Security Council vote later on a Western-Arab draft resolution authorising a team to monitor the fragile ceasefire.

The draft calls on the regime to allow access for up to 30 unarmed military observers.

It is unclear how many additional monitors will be sent in the coming weeks, but diplomatic sources suggest as many as 500.

The Russian foreign ministry said: "The resolution on the deployment into Syria of a UN monitoring mission advance group has been practically agreed for adoption at the UN Security Council."

The Council has threatened to consider "further steps" if Syria does not comply.



International pressure has grown for Syria to fulfil all its commitments to peace envoy Kofi Annan by withdrawing troops and heavy weapons, permitting humanitarian and media access, releasing prisoners and discussing a political transition.

US and European UN delegations had to revise the draft resolution late on Friday after Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters it needed cutting out "all the things which are not really necessary for this particular purpose".

In the re-written draft, wording has been changed and weakened slightly, in some cases from "demands" to "calls upon" or "requests".

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists in Homs said shelling had wounded several people overnight.

Syrians took to the streets across the country in small demonstrations on Friday, trusting the truce would put an end to the bullets that have frightened off peaceful protesters for months.

But Syrian forces loyal to Assad shot dead five protesters after Friday prayers, activists reported, adding that security forces came out in strength in many cities to prevent protesters mounting major rallies against Assad.

The United Nations estimates that Assad's forces have killed more than 9,000 people since the uprising began. Authorities blame the violence on foreign-backed militants who they say have killed more than 2,500 soldiers and police.

A small advance group of UN monitors is preparing to go to Syria to oversee the ceasefire, hours after the Security Council voted for its deployment.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would make firm proposals in days for a larger group of about 250 people.

The mission comes as a BBC reporter says the ceasefire appears in danger of collapsing in some parts of Syria.

Activists said at least 20 people were killed as violence flared on Saturday in Homs and at a funeral in Aleppo.

Continue reading the main story
Syria observer mission
UN resolution 2042 approves a team of up to 30 unarmed observers to deploy to Syria
An initial group of six monitors will arrive in Syria on Sunday
The rest of the advance team is set to follow later
Once certain conditions are met, the UN will seek approval for an expanded force of about 250 observers
Ban Ki-moon has said he will set out concrete proposals by 18 April for this larger UN observer force

The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, condemned the bloodshed saying it raises "renewed doubts about the sincerity of the [Syrian] regime's commitment to the ceasefire".

She said the resolution was an important opportunity to stop the bloodshed, adding that the burden was now on the Syrian regime.

But Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, blamed opposition forces for the spike in violence, saying that more than 50 violations had taken place including "many assassinations and sabotage operations".

Syria's opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, welcomed the vote.

Freedom of movement

The resolution was passed unanimously after Russia approved a revised text, which authorised the deployment of a team of about 30 unarmed observers.

Mr Ban said the UN would need complete freedom of movement for its monitors.

Continue reading the main story
Annan's six-point peace plan
1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people

2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully

"I know that it is a very big country so we will try to have a very effective way of monitoring the situation there," he said.

Diplomats had revised a US-proposed draft on Friday to accommodate Russian objections.

Russia's ambassador said Moscow supported the resolution because of the need for a rapid deployment of observers.

Indeed the UN has said that it intends to increase the deployment to 250 - but that is dependent on certain conditions and will require further approval.

Meanwhile the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut, who has been monitoring developments in Syria, says that in parts of the country the ceasefire seems to be in danger of collapsing, unless something is done to shore it up.

Saturday witnessed a surge in violence, with activists saying at least 20 people killed in several incidents around the country.

Onus on government

Mr Annan, the envoy for the UN and Arab League, drew up the plan which called for an advance monitoring team to be deployed immediately to Syria to observe compliance with the truce.

Mr Annan's plan aims to end more than a year of violence in Syria which the UN says has killed more than 9,000 people, mostly civilians.

The resolution passed on Saturday expresses an intention to establish a full mission once there is a sustained cessation of violence. It also puts the onus on the Syrian government to meet its ceasefire commitments.

The text "calls upon all parties in Syria, including the opposition, immediately to cease all armed violence in all its forms."

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the United Nations in New York says that it provides important backing to Mr Annan's peace plan.

Significantly, it is the first time Security Council members have been able to overcome divisions and adopt a resolution on Syria, which is a diplomatic defeat for Damascus, she says.

Analysts say Russia appears to have been key to persuading President Bashar al-Assad to accept both the Annan plan and the ceasefire.

The terms of this resolution, which Russia backed, call on all parties to observe that truce - and exerts even more pressure on Syria's leaders to withdraw their tanks and forces even further.

Apr 15, 8:01 AM EDT


Syrian city shelled, UN truce observers to arrive

By ZEINA KARAM
Associated Press








Latest Syria News
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BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian troops shelled residential neighborhoods dominated by rebels in the central city of Homs Sunday, activists said, killing at least three people hours before the first batch of United Nations observers were to arrive in Damascus to shore up a shaky truce.

A spokesman for international envoy Kofi Annan said the group of six observers were scheduled to land that night and will be "on the ground in blue helmets tomorrow."

Ahmad Fawzi said the six "will be quickly augmented by up to 25 to 30 from the region and elsewhere." They took off shortly after the U.N. Security Council in New York voted Saturday to authorize an advance team of observers to help maintain Syria's cease-fire.

The reported shelling in Homs is threatening the truce to which President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple him had agreed. Both sides accuse each other of violating the truce at the center of Annan's peace plan.

"What cease-fire? There's an explosion every five to six minutes," said Yazan, a Homs-based activist, contacted by Skype. "I can also hear the sound of a reconnaissance plane. It's flying very low."

In an amateur video posted on the Internet by activists Sunday, explosions and gunfire can be heard echoing as Khaldiyeh's skyline is engulfed in gray smoke. Homs-based activists said other districts including Bayada, Jouret el-Shayah, Qarabees and Qusour were also being bombarded.

"If you saw Homs right now you wouldn't recognize it," said Yazan, describing rubble-strewn roads and badly damaged apartment blocs. "You walk around and it's not unusual to find dead people in cars on the street," he said, giving only his first name for fear of retribution.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said three people were killed in the shelling of Homs. The bodies of two other people were found in the Deir Baalbeh and al-Dablan districts, raising the Sunday's death toll to five.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network put the death toll at seven. It said the day started with a barrage of shells that fell at the rate of six each minute, shaking the neighborhood of Khaldiyeh for the second consecutive day.

Syrian troops shelled residential neighborhoods of Homs Saturday in the first use of heavy weapons since the cease-fire officially took effect Thursday, activists said. They say five were killed, among them Samir Shalab al-Sham, 26, a photographer and father of two who had been documenting the destruction.

He had been live-streaming the shelling on Jouret el-Shayah and Qarabees, they said, and was on the top floor of a destroyed building filming a tank when a shell struck next to him, spraying him with shrapnel.

Rebels were reported by the state media to have fired rocket-propelled grenades.

The regime restricts access of foreign observers, including journalists, making it difficult to verify reports of violence independently.

Saturday's resolution gave the 15-nation Security Council its first united front since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began 13 months ago. It called for immediate deployment of up to 30 monitors, to be followed by a larger contingent of up to 250 once the situation has stabilized.

Fawzi said the council will be asked to approve a full mission of about 250 observers - assuming the cease-fire holds - based on a report by the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon next week.

Emphasizing that both sides must halt the violence that has killed more than 9,000, the council called on Syria to pull soldiers and heavy weapons out of towns and cities - a truce provision Assad's regime has ignored. It also demanded urgent compliance with Annan's six-point plan intended to lead to talks between the regime and the opposition on Syria's political future.

The plan is widely seen as the only remaining chance for diplomacy, mainly because it has the backing of Syria allies Russia and China that shielded Assad from Security Council condemnation in the past.

Annan said in Geneva that he was "very relieved and happy" about the council vote.

Ban also welcomed the resolution.

"I will make sure that this advanced observer mission will be dispatched as soon as possible and try to make concrete proposals by eighteenth of April for an official observer mission," he said.

Western powers and opposition leaders remain skeptical about Assad's willingness to ease his tight grip on the country, ruled by his family for four decades. The regime appears to have complied with parts of the Annan plan, while flouting others.

With the exception of Homs, an opposition stronghold pounded by daily regime shelling in the three weeks leading up to the cease-fire, the military has halted random shelling and mortar attacks on rebel-held residential areas, which were the daily norm in recent weeks. However, it has maintained an intimidating presence of troops, tanks and plainclothes security agents in the streets and demanded that anti-government protesters seek permits, despite Annan's demand that peaceful gatherings be allowed.

Activist Yazan said Thursday, the day the cease-fire went into effect, was the only quiet day. "But the shelling resumed Friday and it has been escalating since then."

---

Associated Press writer John Heilprin in Geneva contributed to this report.

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REUTERS - Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed ceasefire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.

But the lull did little to convince opposition activists and Western powers of President Bashar al-Assad’s good faith in observing a peace plan agreed with international envoy Kofi Annan. In defiance of that deal, Syrian troops and tanks were still in position inside many towns, activists told Reuters.






















Right now there is no shelling, I can't hear anything... But I can see the tanks and the soldiers in their positions







Mousab Alhamadee, resident of Qalaat al Madiq in Hama province






“It was a bloody night. There was heavy shelling on the city of Homs. But now it is calm, and there is no shooting,” said Abu Rami, an activist in Syria’s third city after the 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) deadline passed. Assaults on restive neighbourhoods had become more intense after Assad accepted Annan’s timetable.

At the United Nations, Annan will brief the deeply divided Security Council at 1400 GMT. Western powers, though hesitant to
intervene militarily, are lobbying Russia, a key ally for Assad, to drop its veto on other U.N. measures to pressure Syria into abandoning four decades of autocratic rule by the his family.

The 13-month crisis has pushed out pressure waves along a web of faultlines across the Middle East, pitting Sunni Arabs against Shi’ite Iran, and alarming Turkey, whose prime minister on Thursday cited his country’s right to call on its NATO allies to defend a border where Syrian troops opened fire this week.

People contacted by telephone in the flashpoint provinces of Homs, Hama and Idlib, which have been under sustained shelling by Assad’s forces over the past week, reported calm. An activist in Damascus said the capital was also quiet.

“More than two hours have passed, and it’s completely quiet across the country,” said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The Syrian government bars access to most independent media.
Like activists in other cities, the man who uses the cover name Abu Rami said there was no indication troops were withdrawing from Homs in accordance with the agreement.

“There are no signs of a pull-back; the tanks, snipers and armed forces are still visible across the city,” he said.

Diplomatic battle

The Norwegian general who spent the past week discussing a planned U.N. observer mission with Syrian officials said on leaving Damascus that he was “cautiously optimistic”. But Major-General Robert Mood 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.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking after the lull was reported, said Assad was failing to abide by the terms endorsed by the full U.N. Security Council last week:

“I feel an immense sense of frustration because the world has come together behind this Kofi Annan plan,” he told the BBC. “This is a plan, remember, that is not just backed by those of us who have been pushing for action on Syria, it’s also backed by China and Russia. And yet Assad is deliberately flouting it.”

In an indication of how the Western leaders who intervened to help rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi in Libya last year are reluctant to do likewise in Syria, Cameron made it clear that the main thrust of Western efforts would still be to persuade Moscow and Beijing to accept tighter diplomatic sanctions.

“Now is the time to say to the Russians and Chinese, look at the man we are dealing with, look at the appalling way he is behaving,” Cameron said. “We need to go back to the U.N. and tighten the pressure, tighten the noose.”

Russia and China, alarmed by the way last year’s Security Council resolution on Libya led to military intervention against a sovereign state, have vetoed attempts to penalise Assad, although the United States, European Union and Arab League have imposed their own economic and political sanctions.

China’s Foreign Ministry called on the opposition to honour the truce, something the disparate rebel movements have said they are willing to do - although Western leaders and Annan’s team have made clear the onus is firstly on the government.

“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.”

Troops still in cities

Annan has said this week that he has Syrian assurances that the ceasefire would be respected, though his spokesman was at pains on Wednesday to stress that other elements of his plan must also be respected - notably “Item 2”, which calls for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of urban areas.

Syria’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it would halt operations but made no mention of an army pullback from cities and said it would confront “any assault” by armed groups.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the commitment could not be construed as complying with the former U.N. secretary-general’s peace plan: “The burden remains squarely on the Syrian regime,” she said late on Wednesday.

“The caveats in the letter are worrying and yet again cast into doubt the credibility of any such commitments. But nothing casts more doubt on the credibility of the commitments than the fact that commitments have been made and made and made and broken and broken and broken,” she said, noting that attacks had intensified since Assad agreed to the plan two weeks ago.

Syria’s U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, said his government was “on board” with the plan. But, he said on U.S. television, government forces would remain on alert to “counterattack”.

The opposition was also sceptical of Assad’s intentions.

“The Defence Ministry announcement is a detour on Annan’s plan, which clearly says he should pull back the tanks and end violence,” Qassem Saad al-Deen of the Free Syrian Army said from Syria on Wednesday, adding that the rebels would give the truce a chance but could respond if the government broke it.

The exile Syrian National Council said Assad could simply not afford to stop shooting, since that would allow a new wave of mass protests: “As soon as there is a real ceasefire, people will come out to the streets, demonstrating and demanding his removal, his stepping down.

So I think the regime has to retaliate by opening fire again,” spokesman Bassam Imadi told Reuters in Istanbul. “But lets hope for the better.”

Turkey, Iran concerned

Turkey, hosting nearly 25,000 Syrian refugees, has been particularly alarmed, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan raised the prospect of engaging its NATO allies to protect its borders after firing from Syria hit people in a refugee camp this week.

“NATO has responsibilities to do with Turkey’s borders,” he was quoted as saying by Hurriyet newspaper on Thursday, citing Article 5 of the North Atlantic defence pact, which allows for a common response to an attack on the territory of a member state.

Annan, at a news conference in Tehran on Wednesday, urged Assad’s long-time ally Iran to help resolve the violence and warned of “unimaginable consequences” if it worsened further.

A United Nations advance observers' team arrives in the Syrian capital Damascus
4:17pm UK, Monday April 16, 2012

The death toll of Syria's 13-month civil war has reached more than 11,100 - as the first UN peacekeepers arrive in the war-ravaged country to monitor a "fragile" ceasefire.
Doubts have been growing about the truce after government forces attacked rebels in Idlib in the northwest and shelled the city of Homs in a flagrant breach of the deal.

Two civilians died in a car in Hama, and another was shot dead in the town of Inkhel, southern Daraa province, where the uprising erupted in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The British-based group said 11,117 people have been killed in the conflict so far - 7,972 civilians and 3,145 military and gunmen, including fewer than 600 rebel fighters.



At least 47 people have died, mostly civilians, since the UN-basked ceasefire came into force on Thursday.

As the first six of a team of 30 international observers arrived in the capital Damascus, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged "maximum restraint" from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and called on the opposition to "fully cooperate".

Speaking in Brussels, he said: "Just any small, unintended gunfire may break all this very fragile process."

He said it was the Syrian government's responsibility to guarantee the monitors access and movement within the country, and he voiced concerns over the shelling of Homs.

"It is important, absolutely important, that the Syrian government should take all the measures to keep this cessation of violence," he said.

The mission is just one part of the six-point peace plan Syria has agreed with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who wants more than 200 observers to be deployed to help resolve the ongoing conflict.


Just any small, unintended gunfire may break all this very fragile process.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Syrian state media said the observers were welcomed by Syria, which hoped they would see for themselves the "crimes" committed by "armed terrorist groups".

Meanwhile, Syria's foreign minister Walid Muallem is set to arrive in Beijing for a two-day visit to brief Chinese officials on the UN-brokered ceasefire.

He had similar discussions with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last week.

Both China and Russia have drawn international criticism for vetoing two UN Security Council resolutions on the Syria crisis.

Their stance has hampered international action on Syria, with both countries opposing Western and Arab calls for Mr Assad, who inherited power from his father nearly 12 years ago, to quit.

Apr 17, 7:42 AM EDT


Activists: Syrian troops widen shelling attacks

By KARIN LAUB
Associated Press











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Latest Syria News
Activists: Syrian troops widen shelling attacks
Observer mission next step in Syria truce plan

Kofi Annan appeals to Iran over Syria's conflict

Diplomatic efforts this week to end Syrian crisis




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BEIRUT (AP) -- The Syrian regime widened shelling attacks on opposition strongholds Tuesday, activists said, targeting a second town in a new sign that a U.N.-brokered cease-fire is quickly unraveling despite the presence of foreign observers.

The truce is part of an international plan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad's regime and those trying to topple him. An uprising against Assad erupted 13 months ago, but became increasingly violent in response to a regime crackdown.

Regime compliance with the cease-fire has been partial, and the latest escalation further lowered expectations that the key element of special envoy Kofi Annan's plan can stick. Mortar shells struck the central city of Homs at a pace of one a minute Tuesday morning, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.

Annan, joint emissary for the U.N. and the Arab League, was briefing the Arab League in Qatar on the situation in Syria on Tuesday.

The envoy's plan has the backing of Syria's allies, including Russia, and despite setbacks is seen as the only way forward. Western military intervention is unlikely at this point, and economic sanctions, while starting to bite, seem insufficient to pressure the regime.

Leaders of two Syrian opposition groups said Tuesday, a day after meeting Russia's deputy foreign minister in Moscow, that they have sensed a shift in Russia's stance and hope Moscow will crank up pressure on Assad.

"Russia has all the necessary levers to apply pressure on Assad's government and help Annan's mission," said Haytham Manna of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, an activist group.

Russia twice shielded Assad from U.N. Security Council condemnation, but has become more critical of the regime.

In Paris, diplomats and finance ministry officials from the Arab world, the West and elsewhere were meeting Tuesday to coordinate sanctions against Syria. Diplomats say a string of EU, U.S. and other sanctions have affected Assad by curbing Syria's ability to export oil and the ability of his cronies to do business abroad.

In Syria, the overall level of violence is down since the cease-fire formally took effect Thursday, but the regime has gradually stepped up attacks. The number of people killed every day has also risen steadily since a brief lull that coincided with the start of the truce.

At least 26 people were reported killed on Monday, including 10 in a daylong gunbattle between rebel fighters and the Syrian army in the northwestern town of Idlib. Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said at least 55 people were killed Monday, including 26 in Idlib.

A six-member advance team of U.N. observers arrived in Damascus over the weekend, but hasn't traveled to hotspots yet. U.N. officials said the team is still devising a plan on where to go and whom to meet. A previous Arab League observer mission was hampered by regime restrictions on movement, and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has demanded his monitors be given free access.

The head of the observer team, Col. Ahmed Himmiche, suggested Tuesday it would take time to get to the hardest hit areas. Work in Syria is "difficult," he said in Damascus. "There should be coordination and planning ... We must walk step by step as it's not an easy process."

The group is to be reinforced by an additional 25 monitors who are expected to arrive in the next few days, he said.

In violence Tuesday, army tanks shelled the southern town of Busra al-Harir, killing at least two people, according to the Observatory. The town, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of the capital of Damascus, is a stronghold of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Adel al-Omari, an activist in the area, said troops have been shelling Busra al-Harir and the nearby rural region of Lajat since midday Monday. He said the shelling was intensifying and that many residents are fleeing to nearby villages or to Jordan.

Regime forces also fired mortars and shells at the neighborhoods of Khaldiyeh and Bayada in an apparent push to take control of the rebel-held districts in Homs, a center of the rebellion against Assad, according to the Observatory. Homs has been under continuous regime attack, with only a short break on the first day of the cease-fire, activists said.

---

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed reporting.

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17 April 2012 Last updated at 13:58 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

Syrian security forces are carrying out deadly attacks on opposition-held areas in the north and south and continuing to bombard Homs, activists say.

Two people have reportedly died in the southern town of Basr al-Harir and three in Idlib province, in the north.

The violence came as envoy Kofi Annan travelled to Qatar to brief the Arab League on the peace plan he negotiated.

Earlier, the head of an advance team of UN observers admitted its ceasefire monitoring mission would be difficult.

"We need to move forward, little step by little step," Col Ahmed Himmiche of Morocco told reporters in the capital, Damascus.

"It is not easy and it will require co-ordination with all sides, firstly with the Syrian government and then with the other sides. It's a difficult mission that needs co-ordination and planning," he added.

Col Himmiche arrived on Sunday to prepare for a 30-strong mission approved by the UN Security Council to check the implementation of Mr Annan's peace plan, under which a ceasefire began on Thursday.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
There are outside forces that are not interested in the success of the current UN Security Council effort”
End Quote
Sergei Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister

'Flagrant violations'

As the Moroccan peacekeeper spoke, Syrian army tanks shelled Basr al-Harir, killing at least two people and wounding dozens, activists said.

The town, about 70km (45 miles) south of Damascus, is reportedly a stronghold of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Adel al-Omari, an activist in the area, told the Associated Press that troops had been shelling Basr al-Harir and the nearby rural region of Lajat since midday on Monday. He said the shelling was intensifying and that many residents were fleeing to nearby villages or to Jordan.

In the northern province of Idlib, security forces fired mortars and machine guns in two villages, killing three people, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, put the death toll in Idlib at 19. It said eight people had been executed in a field.

The BBC's Ian Pannell managed to get into Idlib province where he met rebel forces
Government forces also continued to pound rebel-held districts of Homs, with the Syrian Observatory saying that mortar shells were landing at a rate of one a minute in Khaldiya and Bayada on Tuesday morning.

Homs has been under almost continuous attack since the ceasefire began and some activists are warning there may not be much left to see if the UN observers do not come soon, reports the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.

The military, tanks and heavy weapons were all supposed to have been withdrawn a week ago under Mr Annan's peace plan.

The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) accused the government of "flagrant violations of the ceasefire" and called on the UN observers to "travel to Idlib and Homs immediately to see first-hand the massacres".

'Outside forces'

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said any ceasefire violation should be met with a swift and firm response by the UN Security Council.

Addressing an international conference on Syria in Paris, Mr Juppe also said that Western sanctions on the country were having an effect and that its foreign currency reserves had been halved. Syria's foreign reserves were estimated at $17bn before the uprising began last year.

Oil production has also been reduced by 30%, costing the government about $520m a month in revenue, according to French diplomats.

Continue reading the main story
Syria observer mission
UN Security Council resolution 2042 approves a team of up to 30 unarmed observers
An initial group of six monitors arrives in Syria
The rest of the advance team is set to follow later
Once certain conditions are met, the UN will seek Security Council approval for an expanded force of about 250 observers
Ban Ki-moon will set out concrete proposals by 18 April for this larger UN observer force

Mr Juppe said the Syrian government was actively trying to evade the sanctions, and called for a solid international response to such "manoeuvres".

But Russia, which was instrumental in persuading the Syrian government to accept the Annan plan and the ceasefire, seems to be backing the government line in blaming the rebels, our correspondent says.

"There are outside forces that are not interested in the success of the current UN Security Council effort," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"They are doing their best to influence the Syrian opposition not to co-operate with the government in maintain the ceasefire and setting up a future dialogue," he added.

The Arab League is meanwhile holding a ministerial meeting in Qatar, which Mr Annan is expected to attend to seek support for his plan.

However, the emir of Qatar, which has openly advocated arming the opposition, has given the initiative just a 3% chance of success.

"Earlier, we called for Arab military intervention to find a way out of the Syrian crisis, and spare the Syrian people further bloodshed. The appeals for help from a people oppressed and killed every day are met only with silence," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said on Monday.

The UN says about 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011. In February, the Syrian government put the death toll at 3,838 - 2,493 civilians and 1,345 security forces personnel.

Apr 18, 2:16 AM EDT


Gulf fund's problems highlight Syria aid challenge

By BRADLEY KLAPPER
Associated Press





Documents
Indictment of Monzer al-Kassar


Latest Syria News
No fans of Assad, Syria's Kurds distrust uprising
World powers cling to Syria truce despite violence

Qatar PM: No arms to Syrian rebels from Gulf state

Observer mission next step in Syria truce plan

Kofi Annan appeals to Iran over Syria's conflict









WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two weeks after their bold promise, Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Arab Gulf states have yet to start distributing money from a multimillion-dollar fund designed to prop up Syria's rebels and entice defections from President Bashar Assad's army, Syrian opposition members and international officials say.

The cash program was outlined this month at a conference in Istanbul, where representatives of the United States and more than 60 other nations met to strengthen Syria's opposition and increase pressure on the Assad regime. Hoping to crack Assad's support, Washington and its Arab partners seized on the plan as a path forward even as they disagreed on the idea of giving weapons to badly outgunned Syrian rebels.

But the fund's implementation is already beset by problem - basically, how to get the money there and how to make sure it gets to the right people. There's no way to monitor where the money goes as the country veers toward civil war. Because the rebels hold no territory and struggle even to maintain communications among inside and outside Syria, there is no clear way to deliver the money.

The problems underscore the larger problem to providing aid of any kind to the Syrian rebellion. The Obama administration recently signed off on $12 million in enhanced communications, medical and other "nonlethal" assistance to the opposition, but it is unclear what goods are making their way into Syria and by what means.

Even the recipients are largely unknown, with American officials themselves saying they are still trying to get to know Syria's armed and political opposition better.

Other Arab and European countries have made similar pledges of aid that Syrians say they haven't seen - five days into a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that was supposed to allow greater humanitarian and other relief to enter the country. But Assad's government has launched more artillery attacks on opposition strongholds, continuing a year of violent repression that has killed more than 9,000 people and put into doubt international aid hopes.

In an effort to ramp up the pressure on Assad further, France is convening a meeting Thursday of countries leading the call for the Syrian leader's ouster. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the foreign ministers of Qatar and Turkey are among the invitees, a French diplomatic source told The Associated Press. But no significant policy changes are expected at the gathering, according to officials with knowledge of the planning. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss publicly the planning for the meeting.

Widespread international skepticism over the feasibility of a cease-fire with Assad is fueling the debate for how to help the rebels better defend themselves. Up to now, it doesn't appear that any governments are arming the opposition significantly and the U.S. remains firmly opposed, fearful that further militarization of the conflict could cause more violence and more deaths without necessarily accelerating Assad's departure.

The Saudis and other Gulf states have a history of promising lavish aid packages to other Arab populations, in particular the Palestinians, and not always delivering. The Arab Gulf states are committed to delivering the money to Syria, a senior Arab official involved in the planning insisted. He spoke on condition of anonymity because details were still being worked out.

The problem of accountability presents a conundrum for Arab and Western governments alike. They want their money to reach the right people and support the cause, yet lack the delivery address, bank accounts and clear supply routes to make it happen. If it takes too long for accounting standards to be established, the Assad government could destroy the opposition in the meantime and deal the most powerful setback yet to rebels after more than a year of Arab Spring uprisings.

Sameer Mashaar, a finance official for the Syrian National Council, confirmed that the Gulf fund still doesn't exist in practice, while acknowledging that his group receives some money from the region through unofficial channels. It all goes to the "political opposition," he said.

"Regarding the armed opposition and arming, there is nothing," Mashaar said.

Col. Ahmad al-Shaykh of the rebel Free Syrian Army also regretted that there has been no funding for wages as promised.

"We would accept help from any country on earth willing to support us," he said in Turkey. "Whether it is an Arab country, Turkey or NATO."

On Tuesday, activists charged the Syrian regime with widening an artillery assault on the central city of Homs. Meanwhile in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused unspecified foreign forces of trying to thwart what remained of the truce by encouraging the opposition to fight Assad's government.

While skeptical, the Obama administration has tried to hold Assad to the cease-fire plan and maintain cooperation with Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council who have twice shielded the Syrian government from the global body's condemnation. The U.S. also has tried to carefully neutralize Assad's claims of a Western conspiracy against his government by pointing to the U.S. refusal to arm Syria's rebels.

But without additional arms the rebels are hopelessly outmatched, experts say. Their AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades are "enough to defend themselves at the moment but not enough to wage war," said Martin Butcher, a policy adviser on arms and disarmament for the aid group Oxfam.

Joseph Holliday, an analyst with the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War and the author of a recent report on the conflict, said the rebels need anti-tank weapons and portable anti-aircraft systems to stop the Syrian army from moving around the country at will. And they need more small weapons, he said, pointing to videos showing two machine guns and two RPGs for every 50 men.

But weapons alone may not tip the balance - as was the case last year when Western and Arab nations had to go to war to help Libyan rebels defeat Moammar Gadhafi. In the United States, Sen. John McCain has suggested airstrikes against Syrian armed forces that are far better trained than Gadhafi's and have much better morale.

The administration has effectively ruled out such an escalation. European countries are unlikely to get militarily involved without the United States and Turkey has backed off from talk of creating buffer zones along the Syrian border. Any foreign military action could provoke anger from Russia and China, and open hostility from Iran, whose personnel have actively supported Assad's government.

As for the Gulf states, Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut, doubted whether they'd even be willing to foot the bill for the rebellion. "There is a delicate balance of power in the Gulf," he said. "If the Saudis were to step up operations in Syria, the Iranians can respond by aggravating the situation in the Gulf. The two sides know what they are doing."

---

Associated Press writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Don Melvin in Brussels and Andrea Glioti in Hatay, Turkey, contributed to this report.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Activists: Syrian forces target opposition areas despite shaky truce By the CNN Wire Staff
April 18, 2012 -- Updated 0714 GMT (1514 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Wives of U.N. ambassadors urge Syrian first lady to "stop your husband"
Syria sees an ebb in violence in some parts since a truce was enforced last week
But government troops continue to attack opposition areas including Homs, Hama and Idlib
A U.N. observer team is in the nation to monitor the tenuous cease-fire
Are you there? Send us your images or video. Also, read this report in Arabic.

(CNN) -- Syrian forces renewed their attacks on opposition strongholds Wednesday, activists said, marking another day of violation of a shaky truce despite the presence of United Nations observers in the nation.

Government forces shelled civilian homes in various Homs neighborhoods, accompanied by intense gunfire and military aircraft flying over the city, according to the Local Coordination Committees in Syria.

In Daraa, gunfire erupted followed by explosions that rattled the city, the opposition group said.

The nation has seen an ebb in violence since President Bashar al-Assad pledged to enforce the cease-fire last week.

But the regime continues to attack opposition strongholds including Homs, Hama and Idlib in violation of the pledge by Damascus to retreat, according to opposition activists.

Negotiations brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan led to the truce and a deployment of a small number of United Nations observers to the nation to monitor the cease-fire.

The first members of the observer team started their monitoring of the tenuous cease-fire this week.

They will be "liaising with the Syrian government, security forces and the opposition members to establish the monitoring process across the country," said Kieran Dwyer, a spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Despite a relative drop in reported deaths immediately after the Thursday cease-fire deadline, violence persists in Syria, with dozens killed Tuesday on the 66th anniversary of the country's independence from France.

At least 70 people died across the country Tuesday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

Most of those slain were found in Idlib province and Homs, Daraa and Damascus. Some of the Idlib fatalities were killed during Monday shelling, but their bodies were not discovered and identified until Tuesday, the opposition group said.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths because the government has restricted access by international media.

As the violence continued, wives of U.N. ambassadors from Britain and Germany urged Syria's first lady to "stop your husband" in his yearlong bid to quash the uprising.

The roughly four-minute video posted on YouTube juxtaposes pictures of an elegant Asma al-Assad against images of other Syrian women, dead and wounded children.

"We want her (al-Assad) to speak out for the end of violence. That is what we want. Stop the bloodshed. Stop it now. We know this is a risk for you, but take this risk," said Huberta von Voss-Wittig, the wife of Germany's U.N. ambassador.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency has blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the violence and said aggression by the groups had "hysterically escalated" since the start of the cease-fire.

But activist groups have cited daily killings by government forces.

"I think it's clear that over the last several days, particularly since Saturday, the violence has escalated," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice told CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

Rice said the cease-fire is not holding, but reiterated the U.S. opposition to military intervention in Syria.

"We're rightly very apprehensive about increasing the militarization of this conflict. It's already a hot war. It could spill over," she said.

Syria has been engulfed in violence for 13 months as a national uprising spread after the government began cracking down on peaceful protests. The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have died since the protests began, while others put the death toll at more than 11,000.

The United States and the United Nations have decried the bloody crackdown amid international calls for al-Assad to leave office.

Russia, long a staunch ally of Syria, and China have thwarted tough U.N. Security Council action against Damascus, including calls for the president to step down.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem "will pay a working visit to China" on Wednesday at the invitation of Chinese foreign minister, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said.

A group focused on imposing sanctions against the Syrian regime convened in Paris on Tuesday, a meeting co-chaired by France, Morocco and a European Union unit.

The International Working Group on Sanctions reiterated moves made in Tunis by the Friends of the Syrian People to implement various "restrictive measures." It strongly disapproved "of any financial and other support to the Syrian regime and in particular ongoing arms sales."

CNN's Kamal Ghattas contributed to this report.

Weapons to Syria: The Route In. Share
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Weapons to Syria: The Route In.

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Tim Marshall
April 18, 2012 1:42 PM

Recommend post (4) A ship suspected of carrying weapons headed for Syria has docked at a Turkish port. The Turkish authorities are
expected to carry out a detailed search of the vessel which was named by the Dogan news agency as the 'Atlantic Cruiser'.

This follows an incident last year in which Turkey seized a huge weapons cache from an Iranian cargo plane bound for Aleppo in Syria. The plane, owned by Iran's YasAir Cargo Airline, was supposed to be carrying car parts. It was asked to make a 'technical stop'at Diyarbakir where the weapons were found. For details of what was on-board -see below.

The 'Atlantic Cruiser' appeared to be destined for Tartus in Syria when it received a UN warning to change course and headed for the port at Iskenderun. It was sailing under the colours of Bermuda and may be the same ship as the one Der Spiegal Online reported on Monday was a German owned vessel of the same name belonging to the shipping company W. Bockstiegel.

Der Spiegal reported that the ship had loaded its cargo in Djibouti, but W.Bocksteigel said the cargo was loaded in Mubai and that nothing was taken on-board in Djibouti.

The company that chartered the Atlantic Cruiser, White Whale Shipping in Ukraine, denied there were arms on board.

The crew had apparently inspected the top of the cargo and found only cable drums and tubes.

If any weapons are found they would be in violation of a European Union arms embargo as was the arms cache found on board the YasAir plane last year.

Foreign Matters has seen confidential documents the Turkish government sent to the United Nations sanctions committee after they seized the aircraft. They detail the dozens of AK 47 rifles, BKS long barrelled machine guns, and mortar shells found, and listed the serial numbers of many.

There were hundreds of 120-mm mortar shells on-board. This type of heavy munitions is regarded as artillery and can be used to devastating effect against buildings. There were also hundreds of 60-mm shells which are used as infantry support.

It is almost certain the weapons were destined for the Syrian government ahead of its military campaign.

Foreign Matters has also seen documents detailing how a truck hired by Iran's SAD Import and Export company was stopped at the Turkish - Syria border at Oncupinar last year. Turkish intelligence had fitted a tracking device to it when it had crossed into Turkey from Iran. On-board were boxes of Powder M9, Propelling Charge, 6 pallets of rocket fuel, and 2 pallets of RDX - a military grade explosive.

Iran is Syria's closest ally and it is probable the equipment was a gift from Tehran to Damascus, or possibly was destined for Hizbollah in Lebanon.

If weapons are found on-board the Atlantic Cruiser, suspicion about who supplied them will immediately fall on the Iranian government. There are other routes into Syria, for example the land crossings from Iraq and the ports in Lebanon. What seems sure is that Iran is trying all the routes and that a lot of material has got through.

More shootings from Assads Soldiers this morning, the U.N. has 30 Monitors, Annan wants 300. Sarkozy has called a conference meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to to discuss the situation . It is thought Russia is the only Country which can persuade Assad to keep to the ceasefire, but there is a rumour that Russia is supplying ammunition to Syria which is why it is reluctant to get involved.

Apr 19, 7:28 AM EDT


US Syria policy a tacit nod to Assad's firm grip

By ANNE GEARAN
AP National Security Writer


AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

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BRUSSELS (AP) -- Despite oft-repeated U.S. demands that Syrian President Bashar Assad step aside, the Obama administration's policy now reflects a consensus that Assad has a firm hold on power and that nothing short of an outside military strike will dislodge him quickly.

With rebel forces poorly armed and disorganized, efforts to pay them by Arab Gulf states failing, and sectarian divisions looming in Syria, the U.S. and its allies seem prepared to leave Assad where he is. Even if he could be ousted, the near future in Syria could involve civil war among ethnic groups now under Assad's boot, or a slow and bloody war with rebels or proxy fighters armed from the outside.

The U.S. has edged toward supplying the rebels with communications gear and other nonlethal aid but has ruled out either a military assault or a supply of heavy weaponry for rebel forces.

"We are at a crucial turning point," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday.

Either a United Nations-brokered cease-fire takes hold "or we see Assad squandering his last chance before additional measures have to be considered," Clinton said.

But even as she implies tougher international intervention, Clinton is not expected to announce a shift in the U.S. stance during a diplomatic huddle on Syria in Paris on Thursday.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Wednesday he believes there is an opportunity for progress in Syria and recommended the Security Council approve a 300-strong U.N. observer mission.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Ban told the council he will consider developments on the ground, including consolidation of the cease-fire, before deciding on when to expand the mission beyond the 250 observers initially envisioned. The Security Council was scheduled to discuss Ban's letter and recommendations at a closed meeting Thursday morning.

The United States backs the cease-fire between Assad's forces and rebels, but the deal also represents recognition that Assad remains in control of the armed forces and holds the power to suspend attacks on civilians and rebels.

The week-old cease-fire administered by special envoy Kofi Annan was supposed to allow greater humanitarian and other relief to enter the country.

Syria has violated key provisions. Tanks, troops and widely feared plainclothes security agents continue to patrol the streets to deter anti-government protests, while the regime resumed its assault on rebellious Homs, Syria's third-largest city, over the weekend after only a brief lull.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes broke out Thursday in Deir el-Zour, near the border with Iraq, killing one civilian and wounding three others. Syrian troops also began shelling rebel-held neighborhoods in Homs early Thursday, according to the Observatory.

U.S. officials regularly say Assad is no longer a legitimate leader, but they hold no direct leverage to make him leave, or even make him listen to international condemnation.

"Assad must step down," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week. "I mean, we continue to take that position. At the same time, I think, we believe that we have to continue to work with the international community to keep putting pressure on Assad."

Even relatively harsh new sanctions on Syria are a tacit admission that Assad isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And the rebels are no closer to ridding the country of him despite 13 months of fighting and 9,000 mostly civilian deaths.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Wednesday that his country was observing the cease-fire.

The Obama administration recently signed off on $12 million in enhanced communications, medical and other assistance to the opposition, but it is unclear what goods are making their way into Syria and by what means.

International sanctions on Assad's regime have depleted its foreign currency reserves by half - and Damascus is actively trying to evade them, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday. Some 57 countries, including Arab League states, agreed in Paris to reinforce sanctions and denounce Assad.

In Paris on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for humanitarian corridors in Syria to help those opposing Assad. Sarkozy also told Europe 1 radio Friday that Assad is a liar who wants to destroy Homs.

Sarkozy spoke hours ahead of a meeting in Paris of the Friends of Syria group of nations. Clinton will be attending that gathering.

At a larger gathering two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Arab states pledged donations from a multimillion-dollar fund designed to prop up Syrian rebels and entice defections from Assad's army. Washington seized on the plan as a path forward even though the U.S. disagrees with Arab states that want to give weapons to the badly outgunned rebels.

Syrian opposition members and international officials say no money has been sent yet, in part because the Arab governments stepped into a logistical thicket when they began trying to figure out how to route the money to the right people.

There's no way to monitor where the money goes as the country veers toward civil war. Because the rebels hold no territory and struggle even to maintain communications inside and outside Syria, there is no clear way to deliver the money.

The U.S. and other nations have tried a variety of ways to get Assad to ease a crackdown on antigovernment demonstrators inspired by last year's Arab revolutions. The U.S. has long since given up hope that Assad would negotiate with protesters and peacefully give up power. But from the start last year, the U.S. rejected any call for a direct military response like the one mounted a year ago in Libya.

The reasons are simple and, like the current U.S. stance, they reflect the reality of Assad's entrenched family dynasty.

Syria's military is vastly more powerful and better-equipped than Libya's, and is arrayed throughout cities and towns. Any air assault by the U.S. or other outsiders would probably kill many civilians.

The assault would have to be broad and sustained to knock out Syria's heavy artillery and other defenses. That indicates a longer and far more expensive operation than the one in Libya, which was undertaken with NATO help.

Despite widespread disgust and anger at Assad, there is no international mandate for forcibly removing him. Syria was never the outcast that Libya under Moammar Gadhafi became, and it maintained trading and diplomatic relationships around the globe.

European countries are unlikely to get militarily involved without the United States, and Turkey has backed off from talk of creating buffer zones along the Syrian border. Any foreign military action could provoke anger from Russia and China, and open hostility from Iran, whose personnel have actively supported Assad's government.

Russia and China have twice shielded Syria from U.N. sanctions over the crackdown.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that for some on the Syrian opposition and their foreign backers, the cease-fire is a cover to arm rebels.

"There are too many people on the other side of the barricades who want to undermine the work of the observers, to bury the Kofi Annan plan and then call for the creation of security corridors for military support to the opposition and then for military intervention," Lavrov said in Brussels.

Sarkozy said Thursday that he expects the stance of Russia and China to evolve because they "don't like to be isolated."

---

Associated Press writers Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, Jamey Keaten in Paris and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

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