UN, AL urge Syria to meet ceasefire commitment

UNITED NATIONS/DAMASCUS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Arab League (AL) urged Thursday the Syrian government to fulfill its ceasefire commitment, while Syria said it has done so and accused the armed groups of violating the truce.

"The secretary-general remains deeply troubled by the continued presence of heavy weapons, military equipment and army personnel in population centers, as reported by United Nations Military Observers, which is in contravention of the Syrian government's commitments to withdrawing its troops and heavy weapons from these areas," a statement released Thursday by Ban's spokesman said.

Ban has demanded that Syria "comply with its commitments without delay."

"The secretary-general reminds all concerned parties, particularly the government of Syria, of the need to ensure that conditions for the effective operation of the United Nations Military Observers are put in place immediately, including a sustained cessation of armed violence," the statement said.

Ban "is gravely alarmed by reports of continued violence and killings in Syria, including shelling and explosions in various residential areas as well as armed clashes," said the statement.

"He condemns in the strongest terms the continued repression against the Syrian civilian population and violence from any quarter. This situation is unacceptable and must stop immediately," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Arab League (AL) said at an extraordinary meeting at the ministerial level that it would ask the UN Security Council to stop violence and protect Syrian civilians immediately.

AL Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi expressed his sorrow over the ongoing violence in Syria, urging to maintain the ceasefire.

Arabi called on the UN Security Council to deploy monitors to Syria as soon as possible, demanding the Syrian government to facilitate their work.

Currently, there are 15 observers on ground in Syria, six of whom were dispatched evenly to Homs, Hama and Daraa. The number of the team is to grow to 100 within the next month and eventually would reach 300 in accordance with the UN Security Council's recent resolution.

Arabi said that Arab foreign ministers had authorized him to invite all the Syrian opposition parties to meet in Cairo on May 16.

Also on Thursday, Syrian Minister of Information Adnan Mahmoud said his country has abided by international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, stressing that the halt of violence requires an even-handed and transparent observation as well as stopping the armed groups' violations.

Syria's official statistics showed that a total of 1,300 violations of the UN-backed ceasefire have been committed by armed groups since the truce went into effect on April 12.

Mahmoud accused armed groups of ramping up their crimes, kidnappings and assassinations since the activation of the ceasefire.

On the opposition side, representatives of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation in Syria called on all parties in the country to launch an inter dialogue in a bid to resolve the year-long crisis.

Qadri Jamil, leader of the group, said it was the first Syrian opposition to express its willingness to start a dialogue with the government.

Russia hailed the stance of the opposition, vowing to support the launch of an inter-Syrian dialogue.

Alexander Lukashevich, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, called on countries that have influence on the opposition to devote their efforts to starting the inter-Syrian dialogue rather than carrying out scenarios that could interfere in the implementation of Annan's plan.