Syria in ceasefire observers call

Syria’s foreign minister has said the government has already withdrawn some forces from several cities, and stated that the UN-brokered ceasefire must start at the same time as the deployment of international observers.

Following talks in Russia with his Russian counterpart, Walid Muallem said: “We have already withdrawn forces and army units from several Syrian provinces.”

But activists say that Syrian forces have attacked two towns as a deadline passed for president Bashar Assad’s troops to start withdrawing from populated areas in the run-up to an internationally-brokered truce.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it saw no signs of large-scale withdrawal by troops, although most areas of Syria appeared calm. This is in sharp contrast to heavy attacks by Syrian forces on restive towns in recent days.

Activists reported shelling in the northern village of Marea and mortar fire in the city of Homs.

A collapse of the truce deal led by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan could move Syria closer to an all-out civil war. A 13-month uprising has turned increasingly violent in response to a brutal regime crackdown.

Russia has called on the Syrian opposition, as well as countries that “influence them”, to use their powers to bring about the ceasefire.

“We would like to call on all opposition leaders and all countries that have influence on the political and military opposition to use their influence to bring about an immediate ceasefire as is provided by Kofi Annan’s plan,” said Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

Mr Lavrov also said after the meeting with Mr Muallem that Syria’s government “could have been more active and decisive” in implementing the peace plan.

Syrian activists contradicted Mr Muallem's claims, reporting continued military attacks and arrests in several towns across the country.

Activists said they have seen no signs of the large-scale troop pullback that Syrian president Bashar Assad committed to under the ceasefire proposals.

Military forces were supposed to withdraw from towns and villages on Tuesday with both sides ceasing all hostilities by 6am local time on Thursday.

French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero dismissed Syria’s claims of compliance as “a new expression of this flagrant and unacceptable lie”.

Options for ending the fighting appear to be dwindling with the international community unwilling to intervene militarily.

“Soldiers are not being withdrawn from towns and villages,” said Fadi al-Yassin, an activist in the Idlib province close to Turkey. “On the contrary, reinforcements are being sent.”

In northern Idlib and central Hama province, troops backed by helicopters were said to be firing heavy machine guns to try to flush out opposition fighters. Regime forces detained residents and set four homes on fire in Idlib’s Ariha village and a contingent of 50 army vehicles entered the town of Kfar Zeita in Hama province, Mr al-Yassin said.

The Observatory said troops also fired shells at the town of Mareh in north-western Syria and at two neighbourhoods in the central city of Homs. Additional raids were reported in two southern village, the group said. Mohammed Saeed, a resident of the Damascus suburb of Douma, said tanks were patrolling the streets, as they have in recent days.

The Syrian opposition as well as the US and its allies have cast doubt on claims that the regime would comply with the ceasefire, in part because Mr Assad has violated previous agreements and his forces escalated attacks on opposition strongholds in the weeks leading up to the deadline.

There were also signs that the regime was stalling for time when it made new, last-minute demands over the weekend, saying it could not withdraw troops from towns without written guarantees that the rebels would lay down their arms.

Mr Muallem appeared to raise another new demand, saying that the ceasefire must start simultaneously with the deployment of the international observer mission. The deployment of observers was one of the terms of Kofi Annan’s plan.

And in another apparent shift, the Syrian foreign minister also said the country wants the truce guarantees to be issued by Mr Annan, and not by the opposition fighters.

“We did not ask for guarantees from armed terrorist groups that practice killing, take hostages and destroy infrastructure. We want guarantees from Annan,” Mr Muallem said in Moscow.

The Syrian opposition has said that while it is ready to go along with the Annan plan, it does not recognise the Assad regime and would not provide written guarantees.

Unlike previous peace plans, this one has the backing of Assad allies Russia and China because it did not call for the Syrian leader to step aside ahead of talks on a political transition.

But even Russia seemed to be critical of Damascus, with foreign minister Mr Lavrov also calling for a speedy deployment of international observers - including Russians – in the country.

Yet he also seemed to be trying to shift equal blame on the opposition for the difficulties in implementing the truce, repeating Russia’s call for the West to pressure rebel fighters to halt violence.

The 13-month uprising against Assad’s regime has turned increasingly militarised in response to a brutal regime crackdown. The fighting is also spilling across Syria’s borders, raising the risk of regional fighting. The UN says the conflict has claimed more than 9,000 lives.

Yesterday, Syrian forces opened fire across the Turkish and Lebanese borders, killing a TV journalist in Lebanon and two people in a refugee camp in Turkey. Several people were also wounded in the shooting.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Syria of violating the border and said his country is considering what steps to take in response, including measures “we don’t want to think about”.

Turkey, which has already given shelter to some 24,000 Syrian refugees, has floated the idea of creating security zones along its border, a step that could drag the Turkish military into the conflict.

Mr Muallem accused Turkey of helping fuel the violence by “hosting gunmen, giving them training camps, allowing them to cross the border and smuggle weapons”.

“All these acts contradict Kofi Annan’s mission,” he added.

Asked about the possibility of a Turkish buffer zone on the border, he said that “Syria is a sovereign state and has the right to defend its sovereignty against any violation of this sovereignty”.