UN Observers In Combat Zones, Annan Urges Commitment to His Plan
Two UN observers set up base in Homs on Sunday, their spokesman said, as peace envoy Kofi Annan urged both sides [the government and the opposition] to respect the announced truce in the country.
The spokesman, Neeraj Singh, said other members of the eight-member advance UN team of observers mandated to monitor the April 12 ceasefire were pursuing field visits elsewhere in Syria.
"On Saturday, the UN advance team visited Homs where they met with the local authorities and all the parties," Singh told AFP.
He further mentioned that "the team drove or walked around the city of Homs and stopped at different locations to talk to the people."
The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution deploying 300 unarmed observers in Syria for an initial three-month period.
The team also visited Hama city and met its governor, Anas Naem, in addition to several sides.
Meanwhile, the UN envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, viewed that the "UNSC resolution on deploying 300 observers to monitor the ceasefire in Syria was a pivotal moment in the stabilization of the country."
"The work of the observer mission should help create the conditions conducive to launching the much-needed political process, which would address the legitimate concerns and aspirations of the Syrian people," Annan asserted.
The former UN Secretary General called "on the government and the opposition and all the people of Syria to prepare to engage in such a process as a matter of utmost priority.""
"The government in particular must desist from the use of heavy weapons and, as it has committed, withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centers," Annan said.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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