Syria agreed to ceasefire plan, says U.N. envoy Kofi Annan ( Archived) (66)

Diplomat Doublespak!
Speak we know so well here!

Syrian troops just fired into Lebanon and Turkey. Trying to stop the rebels (opposition) that is moving back and forth across the border.

Maybe Assad should try to build a wall (like they attempted on the US/Mexico border) to keep them out? OH....that is so Israeli like....

Kofi is appealing to Iran (who would have guessed) to support his peace plan for Syria. One thing is for sure Assad is not supporting it. After Kofi came up with the 6 point plan, Assad approved...then said it needed different terms....all the while his troops were pulling triggers.

We need President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to jump into this one more. I suggest a fact finding trip to the Damascus for Nancy Pelosi ()<----note the political correct way to place a smile into a post. If she was any less political correct she would fall apart!

Nancy with her deep understanding of middle eastern affairs from running the Iraq war during the GWB years and keen observation skills from sitting thru 26 CIA briefings on EIT...is surely the right person to send to Damascus on a fact finding trip at present.

But after Nancy does her thing in Syria. I think we should have a mano to mano sit down between Obama and Assad. Let our young President lay down the law and draw the line....if not in the sand, on the beach in Hawii were President would rather hold such a meeting. Because getting the President to travel to Damascus is not going to happen.

only thing Iran is going to do,is trying to keep their Boy in Damascus out of Harm's way!
Their position in the ME depends on it!

Guns silent in hours after Syria truce deadline

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed ceasefire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.

But the lull did little to convince opposition activists and Western powers of President Bashar al-Assad's good faith in observing a peace plan agreed with international envoy Kofi Annan. In defiance of that deal, Syrian troops and tanks were still in position inside many towns, activists told Reuters.

The exile opposition, calling the truce "only partially observed" due to that failure to withdraw, urged a renewal of mass protests on Friday. But it warned those taking to the streets, after months when once weekly rallies have been subdued by fear, that they could expect government forces to open fire.

The Interior Ministry urged rebels to surrender, promising to free those who had not killed, and broadcast an appeal to the thousands who fled battered cities like Homs and Hama to return from the havens they found in Turkey, Lebanon and within Syria.

But streets in troubled towns remained nervously empty and, in one clear report of violence after the ceasefire, activists said security forces shot a man dead at a checkpoint in Hama.

"It was a bloody night. There was heavy shelling on the city of Homs. But now it is calm, and there is no shooting," said Abu Rami, an activist in Syria's third city after the 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) deadline passed. Assaults on restive neighborhoods had become more intense after Assad accepted Annan's timetable.

Government spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Damascus was "fully committed" to Annan's success and, as there had been no attack on the troops, "There is no reason to break the ceasefire."




We'll see!