Brussels, 05/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Alain Juppé, the French foreign affairs minister, said on Thursday 5 April that he was by no means optimistic that the Syrian regime would apply the plan of the UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan, which provides for an end to military operations and violence.
For its part, the United Nations Security Council was to adopt a declaration on Thursday 5 April calling on the Syrian regime to respect the deadline of 10 April to halt its main military operations, and calling on the opposition to do the same by 12 April, diplomats report.
“Can we be optimistic? I am not, because I believe that Bachar al-Assad is misleading us. He is pretending to agree to Kofi Annan's plan, the six-point plan, but at the same time he is continuing to use force”, Juppé told the Anglo-American press in Paris.
According to the UN, Damascus has agreed to start to implement Kofi Annan's peace plan on 10 April, by such means as withdrawing his troops from rebel towns. Annan's spokesperson said on Thursday that he hoped that the Syrian government and opposition would set in place a full ceasefire within 48 hours after 10 April. The Syrians claim to have started withdrawing troops from certain areas.
The fact remains that at the same time, Syrian government forces have stepped up their attacks against the opposition. Violence has left nearly 170 dead since Monday, when the UN announced that Damascus had promised to apply the Annan plan immediately. As well as an open political process, this plan provides for an end to violence by the government forces and then by opposition forces, the channelling of humanitarian aid, the liberation of prisoners held arbitrarily, the right to demonstrate freely and freedom of access to the press. (LC/transl.fl)