BEIRUT ( AP) — An advance team of U. N. observers today was working out with Syrian officials the ground rules for monitoring the country’s 5-day old ceasefire, which appeared to be rapidly unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs with artillery shells and mortars, activists said.
Even though the overall level of violence across Syria has dropped significantly, government attacks over the weekend raised new doubts about President Bashar Assad’s commitment to special envoy Kofi Annan’s plan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on the country’s political future.
The advance team of six U. N. monitors arrived in Damascus Sunday night. Annan’s spokesman said the team led by Moroccan Col. Ahmed Himmiche met today with Syrian Foreign Ministry officials to discuss ground rules, including what freedom of movement the observers would have. Ahmad Fawzi said the remaining 25 observers are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva today that the mission “will start with setting up operating headquarters, and reaching out to the Syrian government and the opposition forces so that both sides fully understand the role of the U. N. observers.”
“We will start our mission as soon as possible and we hope it will be a success,” Himmiche told The Associated Press as he left a Damascus hotel along with his team this morning.
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