UN special envoy Kofi Annan warns that Syria has yet to fully comply with his six-point peace plan, but called for the swift deployment of a UN truce-monitoring force to the country anyway.



A fragile UN-backed ceasefire aimed at halting more than a year of bloodshed in Syria appeared to be holding on Thursday but there were no signs that President Bashar al Assad was pulling his forces out of restive cities.

Russia and China, which have twice vetoed council resolutions condemning Assad´s 13-month assault on anti-government protesters but are strong supporters of Annan´s peace efforts, urged Damascus and the opposition to meet all the terms and conditions of Annan´s plan.

Mr Annan told council members that the precarious truce needed support and called for the early arrival of a first wave of unarmed observers to monitor implementation of his six point peace plan, to be followed by a second wave of observers later.

"Joint special envoy Annan was clear that what the Syrian government has done today, the steps that have been taken, do not constitute full compliance. Either with item two of his six-point plan or with the six-point plan in its entirety," said US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, the Security Council president for April.

"If this very fragile initial opening is respected and sustained, and that must include the pull back of Syrian forces from populated areas, the pull back of their heavy weapons and the return to barracks," she told reporters after a closed-door council meeting which Annan addressed via video link from Geneva.

Syrian UN envoy Bashar Ja´afari complained that "eight violations took place this morning by the armed [rebel] groups."

Mr Ja´afari said that Syria is committed to cooperating with Annan and fulfilling his peace plan, adding that Damascus had already complied with calls to withdraw troops from Syrian towns. He said others inside the country and abroad should comply with Annan´s peace plan as well.

"We have already complied. The six-point plan of Mr. Kofi Annan is about a package. It´s not only about one selected item out of six. So we are talking about a whole package that should be respected by all the parties including by the armed groups and those who have influence over these armed groups, both in the Arab and some Arab countries as well as in the region and outside," said Ja´afari.

He was especially critical of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have been voicing support for the opposition.

Annan has called for 200 to 250 unarmed UN-mandated observers to monitor the ceasefire.

Syrian forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the past year, according to a UN estimate. Damascus says rebels have killed more than 2,600 soldiers and security personnel. Contain video from Reuters (© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012. 04/13/12)