Syrian ceasefire 'respected'; observers ready to move in

Russia's ambassador to the UN said a proposed resolution to send observers to Syria was more complicated than he had expected and more negotiations would be needed.

An advance team of about a dozen UN observers is ready to enter Syria, where a ceasefire has been "relatively respected", the spokesman for the international envoy Kofi Annan said yesterday as diplomats met behind closed doors to consider a resolution approving the mission.

The monitors are prepared to leave once the UN Security Council gives its approval, said Ahmad Fawzi, Mr Annan's spokesman.

However, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the text of the resolution was longer and more complicated than he had expected and more negotiations would be needed.

The US draft is critical of the Syrian regime, saying little about the opposition's obligations. It does not call on foreign governments to stop support for the armed opposition - a point Russia has called for.

The resolution also calls for "appropriate further measures", which opens the door to possible sanctions, which both Russia and China oppose.

Opposition activists said at least seven people were killed in Syria yesterday as tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets in towns and cities across the country to protest against the government.

While large-scale attacks appear to have been halted following the truce that began on Thursday, activists said government forces responded to yesterday's protests in some areas with live ammunition and tear-gas.

Opposition leaders called for the protests as Syrian forces tightened security in public squares and outside mosques from where the marches tend to start after Friday prayers.

In the city of Deraa, several hundred demonstrators formed rows, held hands and chanted, "Come on, Bashar, Leave!"

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of Syrian opposition activists, said two of the dead were killed in Hama and another two in the town of Nawa after protesters came under fire from security forces.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Under the truce, Syrian authorities were supposed to begin withdrawing troops and heavy weaponry from population centres on Tuesday, ahead of a ceasefire by both the military and rebel forces on Thursday.

The deal is part of a six-point plan to stop the violence and launch talks between the government and opposition to end the year-long crisis which has left at least 9,000 people dead.

The LCC recorded violations of the ceasefire in at least 67 areas yesterday where security forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrations. Government troops and heavy weapons were also reportedly still deployed in some towns and cities.

Sana, Syria's state news agency, reported that an army officer was killed yesterday and two dozen others wounded after explosives laid by "armed terrorist groups" targeted a military bus in Aleppo.

The news agency also reported a Baath party official in Deraa and an army general outside Damascus were assassinated by "terrorists".

Despite reports of continued violence, Mr Annan's spokesperson said the ceasefire was being "relatively respected".

"We are thankful that there's no heavy shelling, that the number of casualties are dropping, that the number of refugees who are crossing the borders are also dropping," Mr Fawzi said.

Mr Annan has asked the 15-member Security Council to approve sending the advance team of up to 30 military observers to Syria as soon as possible. Additional Security Council approval would be needed to put up to 250 observers on the ground.

Mr Fawzi said the Syrian government had agreed to the deployment of the observer mission.

Meanwhile, Valerie Amos, the UN's chief humanitarian official, said at least one million Syrians were in need of urgent aid. She said that talks with the government to let the assistance in should not become entangled in political negotiations.

"Even as the political and military situation evolves, the immediate priority for humanitarian organisations is to obtain unhindered access, especially to people in areas which have seen heavy fighting," Ms Amos said in a statement.

Mr Annan, a former UN secretary general, reportedly told the council during a two-hour closed-door briefing on Thursday that "the continued presence of Syrian armed forces, including armour, in and around population centres, must end immediately.

"Violence in all its forms, including arbitrary arrests, torture and abductions, must stop," he said, according to Mr Fawzi.

The French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, told a French TV station yesterday that Syria's government must be closely monitored.

"I don't believe Bashar Assad is sincere," he said. "I don't believe in the ceasefire, sadly."

But, speaking in New York on Thursday, Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Al Jaafari, said his country was committed to Mr Annan's mission, Sana reported.

The Syrian ambassador also referred to "some Arab and regional countries and some international powers", saying it was not enough for the Syrian government to show "full commitment" to the ceasefire plan, but "all sides have to stand by us clearly and unequivocally".

* With additional reporting by the Associated Press