UN Observers Land in Syria, Rebels Continue Breaching Cease Fire
The first members of a UN observer team began their work in Syria on Monday, tasked with monitoring a fragile cease-fire.
"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 peacekeeping missions at the United Nations.
An initial group of six observers arrived Damascus on Sunday, a day after the UN Security Council voted unanimously, authorizing unarmed observers to travel to Syria to monitor the cease-fire-part of a peace plan brokered by UN special envoy Kofi Annan.
Earlier, Anna's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi declared that "the UN observers are to arrive in Damascus late Sunday and will be on the ground in blue helmets tomorrow."
He said "the team will quickly grow to between 25-30, drawn from the region and elsewhere. However, the terms of deployment of the larger contingent of 250 still have to be negotiated."
In the same context, Bouthaina Shanaban, the Syrian government spokeswoman and presidential adviser, announced that the "length of work of the observers and their movement will be determined in coordination with the government of Syria."
"A protocol agreement on the observers' mission will need to be signed before the larger group is allowed to come," she announced.
Moreover, Syrian officials unveiled that Foreign Minister Walid Moallem would arrive in China on Tuesday for a two-day visit.
Last week, Moallem met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.
On the ground, a Syrian military source declared that "the authorities will prevent the armed terrorist groups from continuing their criminal aggressions against the army, law enforcement forces, and citizens.
He further accused the armed rebels of hysterically escalating attacks since the halt of military operations was announced last Thursday morning.
"There have been dozens of violations by the armed groups that have caused big losses in terms of lives and properties," the source added.
This came hours after the authorities uncovered a workshop for manufacturing explosive devices in Hama, which contained chemicals used for making explosives.
One of the confiscated explosive devices had a yield of 9 kilograms of explosive materials and white phosphorus, which is an internationally prohibited explosive substance.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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