UN votes to boost Syria mission

The United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed in a vote on
Saturday to send 300 observers to Syria to monitor a shaky ceasefire
as UN monitors visited the restive province of Homs.
The council's 15 members endorsed Resolution 2043, authorising up to
300 unarmed military observers to go to Syria for an initial 90 days
to monitor the truce and implementation of a six-point peace plan.
A small advance team of monitors toured several districts of Homs
city, including the neighbourhood of Baba Amr where hundreds of people
were killed in a month-long bombardment by regime forces, monitors
said.
"A team of international observers visited the province of Homs and
met the governor,"the state-run news agency SANA reported.
The US envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice, current president of
the 15-member Security Council, said Saturday's resolution was
passed"unanimously."
According to its text the resolution calls on President Bashar
al-Assad"to carry out promises on troop movements and heavy
weapons,"in line with a six-point peace plan drawn by international
envoy Kofi Annan.
Syria agreed to the plan which also called for the ceasefire that went
into effect April 12.
But the new resolution also adds two new calls to complete the
pullback of troops and weapons from population centres, where the
previous resolution only spoke of beginning the withdrawal.
Saturday's resolution does not mention any threat of new sanctions
against the Syrian regime but says the council will evaluate the
situation and"consider further steps"if Damascus does not allow
implementation of the observer mission.
The resolution says Syria must ensure"unhindered deployment"of mission
personnel and give them"full, unimpeded freedom of movement and
access"including ability to communicate freely and privately with
individuals throughout Syria without retaliation against them.
It also notes that the cessation of violence is"clearly incomplete"as
reports from Syria continue to speak of casualties and violence.
On Saturday the opposition Syrian National Council claimed that Homs
neighbourhoods were being pounded, although an activist there said the
situation was calm.
But in the town of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border in Homs province,
a sniper shot dead a woman on Saturday, said the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights.
Also in the run-up to the UN vote, state media reported the release 30
people detained for their alleged role in Syria's anti-regime
uprising, but who have"no blood on their hands."
The move takes to nearly 4,000 the number of people the authorities
have freed since November, SANA said.
Ahead of the vote, many Western nations, including the United States,
had strong doubts that the resolution would be passed, and several
Western envoys highlighted the risks of sending monitors to Syria.
"The deployment of the first 10 observers in Syria has not changed the
murderous behaviour of the regime,"said France's UN ambassador Gerard
Araud, who added that Assad had shown"contempt"for UN action.
However Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, whose country played a
leading role in drawing up the resolution, told the council:"This
resolution is of fundamental importance to push forward the process of
the peaceful settlement in Syria."
On top of the military observers, civilian experts will go to Syria to
advise on political and public security developments.
The council approved an advanced mission of 30 observers and seven are
already in Syria where the UN says more than 9,000 people have been
killed in the 13-month crackdown on dissent against Assad's rule.
Meanwhile the Syrian Observatory reported that"a loud explosion was
heard Saturday at the Mazzeh military airport in Damascus,"but
provided no further details.
Activists however told AFP that the army blocked the road leading to
the base while snipers took position on rooftops in the area.
Sporadic clashes between government troops and army deserters have
rocked Damascus in recent weeks, ahead of the April 12 ceasefire.
Elsewhere, an"armed terrorist group"on Saturday blew up a section of
an oil pipeline in the Deir Ezzor region of northeast Syria, SANA
said.
On Friday, violence persisted on the ground, with at least 46 people
killed as thousands of Syrians protested against Assad's regime,
according to monitors and activists.
Monitors say more than 200 people have been killed in Syria since the
shaky ceasefire to which the government and rebels committed
themselves went into effect./

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