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Syria Truce Holds, UN Security Council Votes on Syria Observer Mission

 

Syria truce largely holds but 5 killed in protests

Khaleej Times, (AP) 13 April 2012

BEIRUT -

A Syria cease-fire was largely holding on Friday as tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets in the first major test of the U.N.-brokered truce. Activists said regime forces fired live bullets and tear gas in some locations, killing at least five people, but stood back in other areas where demonstrators beat drums and chanted anti-regime slogans.

President Bashar Assad’s forces halted the large-scale shelling attacks on opposition strongholds that have pushed the country toward civil war over the past 13 months. But security forces backed by tanks, snipers and plainclothes agents maintained an intimidating presence in the streets and scattered violence was reported.

The U.N.-Arab league envoy, Kofi Annan, hoped to dispatch an advance team of up to 30 observers to Syria as quickly as possible to start monitoring the truce, and the U.N. Security Council was to vote on his request later Friday. If the relative calm holds, a beefed-up mission of up to 250 members was to follow quickly.

But Western distrust of the regime’s intentions runs deep. French President Nicholas Sarkozy told a French TV station Friday that Syria’s government must be closely monitored.

“I don’t believe Bashar Assad is sincere,” he said. “I don’t believe in the cease-fire, sadly.”

The truce, which formally took effect Thursday, is at the center of Annan’s six-point plan to stop the bloodshed and launch talks on Syria’s political future. The uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests but became increasingly militarized in response to a brutal crackdown by the regime. The fighting has killed an estimated 9,000 people.

Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Friday that the peace plan has been “relatively respected.”

However, the regime has ignored at least two major points in the plan — to send forces back to their barracks and to allow peaceful demonstrations. Troops remain in towns and cities, and the regime insisted that demonstrators seek government permits.

On Friday, Syrian forces tightened security in public squares and outside mosques after opposition leaders called for widespread protests to test the regime’s commitment to the Annan plan.

Tens of thousands poured into the street in cities and towns across the country after noon prayers in mosques, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, an activist group that mains a network of monitors on the ground. The turnout was higher than in recent weeks, when a government crackdown and heavy security presence discouraged demonstrators.

Security forces fired live rounds, tear gas or beat protesters in some areas, but amateur videos showed large peaceful and seemingly cheerful anti-government rallies in other locations.

In the Damascus suburbs of Zabadani and Douma and in northern town of Idlib, large crowds linked arms and chanted anti-government slogans. In the southern city of Daraa, birthplace of the uprising, several hundred people formed rows, holding hands and dancing to the beat of a drum while chanting “Come on, Bashar, Leave!”

However, troops and pro-government militiamen known as shabiha surrounded a mosque in the Damascus neighborhood of Qadam and beat people staging a protest inside the house of worship, said the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group. In Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, troops fired tear gas at marchers gathering outside the Grand Mosque, the group said.

In some areas of Damascus, the widespread deployment of plainclothes agents of the feared Mukhabarat security service limited the size of the protests, said an activist in the city, Maath al-Shami. He said many regime opponents chanted anti-government slogans inside mosques, but were unable to take their marches to the streets.

“The big security campaign succeeded in limiting the size of the protests,” al-Shami said.

By mid-afternoon Friday, at least five protesters were reported killed, in what appeared to be a lower-than-usual toll for Friday marches. It is impossible to confirm casualty tolls because the country is largely sealed off from journalists.

The Observatory said two marchers were killed in the opposition stronghold of Hama as they and others tried to reach the main Assi Square, which protesters had occupied for several weeks last year. Two others were killed and 11 wounded in the southern town of Nawa when protesters came under fire from security forces as they gathered in the central square, said area activist Adel al-Omari.

The LCC put the nationwide death toll at 11 protesters.

The Syrian government has broken promises in the past and so far ignored a key provision of Annan’s plan to pull troops back to barracks. Opposition leaders say Assad doesn’t want to ease the clampdown — because that would unleash protesters to flood the streets and escalate the movement to bring down the president.

Mass protests were held during the early days of the uprising, but such demonstrations have become smaller and are dispersed quickly because of the violent crackdown and heavy presence of Syrian security forces.

On the diplomatic front, Annan has urged the 15-nation U.N. Security Council to authorize an observer mission that would help keep the peace.

Ahmad Fawzi, his spokesman, said an advance team was prepared to travel to Syria quickly to prepare for a full mission of up to 250 observers on the ground. He also quoted Annan as telling the council “that we need eyes on the ground, in light of the fragile calm that appears to be prevailing. We need eyes on the ground quickly to observe and monitor the situation.”

Protests turn deadly as UN delays vote on observers

France 24, April 13, 2012, By News Wires (text)

AFP -

Thousands of Syrians marched on Friday to test the regime's commitment to a UN-backed peace plan, and the fragile two-day old ceasefire was again shaken when security forces killed eight civilians.

The hard-won truce to end a 13-month crackdown on dissent that has cost an estimated more than 10,000 lives appeared to be holding, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he did not expect it to last. He questioned President Bashar al-Assad's sincerity and appealed for observers to monitor his compliance.

UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan, who brokered the ceasefire, urged Syria to allow humanitarian access to deliver aid.

"Mr Annan is aware that we don't have a perfect situation in the country at the moment," his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said. "There are detainees that need to be released," Fawzi said, and "humanitarian access" is needed.

Protesters rallied in the Qadam and Assali districts of Damascus, while other demonstrations took place in Irbin and Bibla outside the capital, according to videos posted on the Internet.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said demonstrations were organised across the country, with tens of thousands taking to the street, mostly after the main weekly Muslim prayers.

"The numbers this time are higher than previous weeks," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Sporadic clashes broke out between troops and rebels at Khirbet al-Joz on the border with Turkey, the Observatory said.

Violence on Thursday killed at least 10 people, including seven civilians, and wounded dozens more.

Even so, the toll is markedly lower than in recent weeks, when there have often been scores of people killed on a daily basis.

On Friday, security forces killed six civilians in various cities around the country, and two soldiers lost their lives.

After the ceasefire came into force at dawn on Thursday, Annan declared he was "encouraged by reports that the situation in Syria is relatively calm and that the cessation of hostilities appears to be holding."

But as Assad's government and the rebels traded accusations of trying to wreck the ceasefire, Annan insisted "all parties have obligations to implement fully the six-point plan."

The plan, to which Damascus has committed itself, calls for the withdrawal of forces from urban areas, the release of arbitrarily detained people, freedom of movement for journalists and the right to demonstrate.

Despite the regime's commitment, the spokeswoman for the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), Basma Qoudmani, said "we have concrete proof that heavy weapons are still in population centres."

The SNC, the most widely recognised opposition group in exile, and Internet-based activists called for peaceful demonstrations to test the government's readiness to accept public shows of dissent.

"We call on the people to demonstrate and express themselves... The right to demonstrate is a principal point of the plan," SNC head Burhan Ghalioun told AFP.

Qoudmani said: "The real test (of the ceasefire) will be if there is shooting or not when people demonstrate."

The Syrian Revolution 2011 activist group called on Facebook for protests on Friday -- the Muslim day of rest when the demonstrations have been the largest after noon prayers -- under the rallying cry: "A revolution for all Syrians."

But the interior ministry insisted people wanting to demonstrate must have permits.

"The right to demonstrate peacefully is guaranteed by law. We call on citizens to apply the law by requesting a permit before demonstrating," it said.

It had been thought that the UN Security Council might vote Friday on a resolution authorising the deployment of observers to monitor both sides in a conflict the Observatory says has cost more than 10,000 lives.

But Western nations and Russia put forward rival resolutions on Friday, which means that no vote is likely until Saturday.

The Britain, France, Germany and the United States have registered one text for a vote, demanding "full, unimpeded, and immediate freedom of movement" for the monitoring mission.

It also demands that Assad "implement visibly" the commitments he made to Annan, including the withdrawal of troops and weapons from cities.

Annan has said the government has not yet carried out a promise to pull troops and weapons out of "population centers."

The text would force the council to "consider further measures" if Syria does not carry out its commitments.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his mission had put forward a much shorter text, saying the Western countries were putting too much detail into the text.

Details were not immediately released, but diplomats said it did not demand the same level of security guarantees or that Assad pull back troops.

Western nations also want the resolution to condemn "the widespread and gross violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities."

The draft says the council "expresses its intention to consider further steps in the event of non-implementation of relevant commitments."

The UN is planning to send at least 200 monitors to Syria if the tense ceasefire in the country holds.

In other developments, Turkey, which is hosting around 25,000 Syrian refugees, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said international aid has begun to arrive.

"We will start getting international aid, and in fact we have already started," he told reporters in Istanbul.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) this week sent 1,500 tents and 1,500 blankets to Turkey, diplomatic sources told AFP.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the international community to help Turkey house Syrian refugees.

In the same vein, France said it was considering sending aid for tens of thousands of Syrians refugees in Jordan.

SYRIA UN chief 'to send observers to Syria'

SYRIA Syria calm as ceasefire begins, observers say

SYRIA Syrian ceasefire promise met with US scepticism

UN Security Council to vote on Syria observer mission Saturday

UNITED NATIONS, April 13, 2012 (Xinhua) --

The Security Council will meet Saturday at 11:00 a.m." EST ( 1600GMT) to vote on the draft resolution, the office told reporters here.

The Security Council resumed its closed discussions on Syria at around 15:00 EST Friday at the UN Headquarters in New York, but they decided to put the draft to vote on Saturday morning.

The U.S., together with its allies, and Russia on Friday tabled rival drafts resolution on the authorization of an advance team of unarmed military observers for Syria in order to monitor a ceasefire between the Syrian government forces and armed opposition fighters.

The rival drafts argued over whether Syria should give immediate guarantees of freedom of access to the mission and whether the council should warn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of further measures if he does not keep commitments.

The resolutions were drafted in response to a request by Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League special envoy for Syria, to send the UN observers to monitor compliance with the truce. If the ceasefire holds, a larger mission with up to 250 members could follow.

Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told reporters in Geneva on Friday that a dozen of UN observers is ready to enter Syria, where the ceasefire has been "relatively respected."

The advance team is "standing by to board planes and to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible," once the Security Council gives approval for the mission as hoped, Fawzi said. "We hope both sides (in Syria) will sustain this calm, this relative calm."

Meanwhile, Fawzi said that the truce is just a first step on a long way to peace.

"This is only the beginning of a long road towards reconciling and towards building the future that Syrians aspire to, where there are no detentions without cause, where law enforcement guarantees peace and security in the street -- not the military," he said.

Anna said in a statement issued in Geneva on Thursday that he is "encouraged" by reports that the cessation of hostilities in Syria "appears to be holding," urging all Syrian to seize opportunity to implement the agreed six-point peace plan.

Annan had previously stated that, once the Syrian government would complete the withdrawal of troops by April 10, all parties should move immediately to cease all forms of violence, so that a complete cessation is in place by Thursday, April 12.

U.S., Russia offer rival draft resolution on Syria observers

UNITED NATIONS, April 13, 2012 (Xinhua) --

The U.S., together with its allies, and Russia on Friday tabled rival draft resolution on the authorization of an advance team of unarmed military observers for Syria in order to monitor a ceasefire between the Syrian government forces and armed opposition fighters.

The U.S., Colombia, France, Germany, Morocco, Portugal and the United Kingdom jointly submitted a draft resolution while Russia put forward a rival one, likely putting off the council vote, which is expected late Friday, until Saturday.

The 15-nation Security Council began its meeting behind closed doors on Syria at around 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) on Friday, and the meeting is still going on, UN officials said.

The two sides agreed to the council's approval of the advance team of up to 30 unarmed military observers for Syria, where a ceasefire is reportedly honored by both the government forces and armed oppositions, according to the two drafts obtained by Xinhua.

They also both supported the good offices of Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League special envoy for Syria, and its six-point plan to end the year-long crisis in Syria, which has been plunged into violence since March 2011.

The two drafts also reaffirmed the council's "strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and to the purposes and principles of the (UN) Charter."

However, the rival drafts argued over whether Syria should give immediate guarantees of freedom of access to the mission and whether the council should warn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of further measures if he does not keep commitments.

The U.S. draft "demands" the Syrian government "implement visibly its commitment in their entirety," while the Russian version "calls upon" Damascus to do the same thing.

The Syrian government said it accepted Annan's peace plan and pledged to comply with the ceasefire deadline.

Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who spokes to reporters on Friday after the council's closed door discussions on Syria on Friday morning, criticized the U.S. draft for asking too many work to be done, saying, "We have put together a shorter version of ( the U.S.) text.

"We had this understanding yesterday that it should be to the point, pragmatic, specific about putting in boots on the ground, ( an) advance party of the monitoring team," Churkin said.

The two drafts were presented to the council in response to a request by Annan to send the UN observers to monitor compliance with the truce. If the ceasefire holds, a larger mission with up to 250 members could follow.

Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told reporters in Geneva on Friday that a dozen of UN observers is ready to enter Syria, where the ceasefire has been "relatively respected."

The advance team is "standing by to board planes and to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible," once the Security Council gives approval for the mission as hoped, Fawzi said. "We hope both sides (in Syria) will sustain this calm, this relative calm."

Meanwhile, Fawzi said that the truce is just a first step on a long way to peace.

"This is only the beginning of a long road towards reconciling and towards building the future that Syrians aspire to, where there are no detentions without cause, where law enforcement guarantees peace and security in the street -- not the military," he said.

Anna said in a statement issued in Geneva on Thursday that he is "encouraged" by reports that the cessation of hostilities in Syria "appears to be holding," urging all Syrians to seize opportunity to implement the agreed six-point peace plan.

Annan had previously stated that, once the Syrian government would complete the withdrawal of troops by April 10, all parties should move immediately to cease all forms of violence, so that a complete cessation is in place by Thursday, April 12.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

UN humanitarian chief calls for immediate, unhindered access for aid into Syria

UNITED NATIONS, April 13, 2012 (Xinhua) --

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said here Friday that humanitarian organizations need to obtain unhindered access into Syria as there are at least a million people remain in need of urgent humanitarian help in the country.

"Even as the political and military situation evolves, the immediate priority for humanitarian organizations is to obtain unhindered access, especially to people in areas which have seen heavy fighting," Amos said in a statement.

She said it is "extremely important" that negotiations to enable humanitarian organizations in Syria to deliver aid remain separate from other efforts to resolve the crisis.

Amos also stressed the importance of being able to "make emergency humanitarian supplies and services available to people in a way that protects civilians and aid workers."

The UN estimates that some 9,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, and tens of thousands have been displaced since protests in Syria broke out in March last year. Damascus says 6, 044 have died, including 2,566 soldiers and police.

Most recent reports from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimate a total of 43,610 Syrian citizens as refugees throughout the region.

Editor: Mu Xuequan