Syrian Cease-Fire Holds Despite Scattered Violence

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan says he's "encouraged" by reports that a shaky cease-fire between government troops and rebels in Syria seems holding, despite scattered violence.

In a briefing on Syria to the U.N. Security Council Thursday, Annan urged the Syrian government to take further steps by removing troops and heavy weapons from major population centers.

Kofi Annan's Six-Point Peace Plan

• A Syrian-led political process to handle the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people.
• A U.N. supervised end to armed violence by all parties in Syria.
• Timely humanitarian assistance in all areas laid low with fighting.
• Increasing the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained people.
• Ensuring freedom of movement for journalists.
• Respecting freedom of association and the precise to illustrate peacefully.

The cease-fire is being watched closely by skeptical Western envoys and Syrian opposition groups who're weighing President Bashar al-Assad's good faith in observing the peace plan brokered by Annan.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the international community ought to be united whether it is going to maintain Syria from descending into "chaos."  At a news conference in Geneva, he said he hopes to send observers to the rustic soon.

"This cease-fire process is amazingly fragile," said Ban. "It could be broken at any time if and when there's another gunshot, even a small gunshot can give each side some protection to have interaction in another fighting. Here's very worrisome. Therefore it's important for each of the friends of each of the players of the international community to steer them, to advise them sincerely to maintain their promises."

Ban said the onus is at the Syrian government for the cease-fire to hang but he also urged the opposition to "sustain the cessation of violence in all its forms.”

Scattered violence reported

VOAActivists reported a number of deaths Thursday and dozens of arrests, however the nascent truce seemed to largely be holding.

Syrian state media say "armed terrorists" bombed an army bus inside the city of Aleppo, killing one soldier and wounding 24 officers and cadets.

Rights activists said Syrian forces killed a minimum of three civilians. They are saying the violence came about in areas including the protest hubs of Homs and Hama.

Opposition groups also said Syrian troops remain deployed in flashpoint cities and are on high alert.

Opposition leaders called for demonstrations to check the resolve of the federal government to abide by the cease-fire.

Syrian opposition activists say while they support his efforts, they don't believe the plan will ultimately succeed.  

"We needed to offer them a bit time though such a lot of individuals are dying at the ground and within the streets that it is vital to provide the international community a while to determine if diplomacy will not work,” said activist Ammar Abdulhamid in Washington.

Ban said the U.N. is operating to send a small monitoring mission from its peacekeeping department to Syria. He said it may well deploy quickly once it's miles approved by the safety Council.

Russian role

Security Council member Russia, which has blocked some previous action on Syria previously months, looked able to approve an observer force.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a collection of 8 meeting in Washington on Wednesday that it really is "vitally important” the observers are found in Syria. He said he would ask the secretary-general to hurry up his decision at the format and size of the force so the protection Council could approve its mandate.

Timor Goksel, a former spokesman for U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, said Russia is pushing the Syrian government to halt attacks at the opposition.

"I'm optimistic because clearly Syria is stressed from Russia," he said. "Little question about it. How far, after all i do not know, but they're stressed and they are responding to it by agreeing to the cease-fire and everything else.”

Syria's interior ministry urged refugees and people who were displaced during months of fighting to come back, claiming it might help pay for damage to their homes. The ministry also urged citizens to put down their arms, promising an amnesty to all "except people with blood on their hands.”

VOA's Pamela Dockins and Jeff Swicord in addition to wire services contributed to this report.

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