Syria Ceasefire into Effect under Annan’s Plan

Local Editor

A ceasefire has gone into effect in Syria in line with a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in efforts to bring an end to more than a year of turmoil in the country.

The ceasefire came into effect at 6:00 a.m. local time on Thursday. It was part of the six-point plan Annan proposed to Damascus in March.
Kofi Annan said on Wednesday that he had received a written pledge from the Syrian foreign ministry to "cease all military fighting throughout the Syrian territory as of 6:00 a.m. tomorrow (0300 GMT)."
The Syrian government, however, has issued a warning that security forces would "respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups against civilians, government forces or public and private property."
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on April 10, "We have already withdrawn forces and army units from several Syrian provinces."

The Syrian foreign minister also stated "despite all these positive measures we noticed on a daily basis the escalation of opposition by the armed terrorist gangs."
Meanwhile on Thursday, opposition called on people to demonstrate against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
"We call on the people to demonstrate and express themselves, because the right to demonstrate is a principle point of the plan", the head Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, told AFP China welcomes the Syrian government's decision on a complete ceasefire and pullback of the forces from some cities, Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Chinese Xinhua News agency, quoted the Ministry Spokesman, Liu Weimin, as saying that this will help easing the tense situation in Syria and is considered as an important step towards a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
"China calls at the same time the opposition for an immediate ceasefire," Liu added.

    On another hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Syria has taken sufficient positive steps towards the plan of the UN envoy to it Kofi Annan, the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported on Wednesday. 

In press statements following the ministerial meeting of the G8 in Washington, Lavrov stressed that focus at this time should be placed on ensuring the implementation of Annan's plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, adding that the priority now is for all the parties to abide by the ceasefire.
Lavrov reiterated his call upon all the Syrians to sit around the dialogue table, pointing out that the Syrian leadership has already expressed its readiness to do so.
"The Syria leadership has the support of the majority of the Syrian people and to say that an opposition trend is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people is an exaggeration," noted Lavrov. 

Source: News Agencies, edited by moqawama.org