No ceasefire in sight on the day of withdrawal deadline
As UN special envoy Kofi Annan visits Turkey and Iran today, and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem holds talks in Moscow, there is no sign that Syria will meet today’s UN deadline for the withdrawal of troops from cities. This withdrawal was a prerequisite for the full ceasefire that was scheduled to go into effect at 6am on Thursday, and UN. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated yesterday that "the timeline for the complete cessation of violence endorsed by the Security Council must be respected by all without condition," Reuters reported.
However, London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported this morning that there were no signs of army withdrawal, quoting activists in Homs who confirmed that army tanks and troops are still present. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that continuing violence indicates that "the Assad regime does not seem at all willing to meet the commitments that it made to Kofi Annan," Al-Jazeera reported.
At a Moscow press conference today, Mu’allem said that "stopping violence according to the Annan plan will be considered as disarming the armed groups " , and asked how this could happen "while weapons smuggling and armed infiltration from Turkey is happening " . He further called on Turkey to "declare its commitment " to the plan, Syrian state TV reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated at the same conference that "the focus should now be on what has to be done now, not on putting responsibility on any party, adding that Russia agreed to transfer its UN Disengagement Observer Force members currently stationed in the Golan to Syria, state-run news agency SANA reported. This confirms sources quoted by Lebanese daily Al-Hayat that claimed Moscow might send “representatives to work with the UN observer mission in Syria”, according to the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister. Al-Hayat further suggested that the Moscow talks would focus on the guarantees that Russia would provide should the Syrian regime withdraw its forces.
Syrian journalist Mohrz al-Ali wrote in state-run daily Al-Thawra that Syrian approval of Annan’s plan "coincided with a serious escalation of terrorist acts committed by armed groups which obey the orders of Arab and Western forces " , including "some princes of the [Arab] Gulf and Turkey [working] in the interests of their masters in Washington and the West " which are "now trying to block the Annan plan. ..."
http://syria-today.com/index.php/component/content/article/748-daily-news-brief/20030-10-april-2012