Brussels, 10/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated on Tuesday 10 April that the government had begun to implement the Kofi Annan plan. He spoke of initiatives that Syria is taking to show its good will in implementing the plan. He added that military units had been withdrawn in some provinces. He made it clear that the any ceasefire should coincide with the arrival of international observers.
France, however, says that the announcement was merely “a fresh expression of a blatant and unacceptable lie”. These statements demonstrate a “feeling of impunity” against which France urged the international community to react, according to French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. This will be at the heart of French initiatives in the G8 meeting in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and in the United Nations Security Council, he stated.
UK Foreign Minister William Hague said that it appeared that the Assad regime had no intention whatsoever of upholding the merest commitment it had made. He said that, on the contrary, the regime would seem to have used the plan to intensify its military efforts. Russia, too, called on the Syrian regime to be more responsive and firmer in implementing the peace plan.
Tension between Damascus and Ankara. The Syrian regime has accused Turkey of supporting illegal Syrian armed groups, supplying them with arms and helping illegal militants to enter Syria. These accusations could further ratchet up tensions between the two countries after, on Monday, shots fired from Syria wounded four Syrians and two Turks on Turkish soil. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said that these incidents were a “clear violation” of Turkey's borders and he stated that Turkey would “take the necessary measures” in response. Hague condemned the “attacks” and offered UK support to Turkey. China has also expressed its concern.
“It is deeply worrying that the Syrian regime is escalating the conflict at a time when the international community is intensifying efforts to broker a peaceful, political solution. President al-Assad will bear full responsibility if he does not immediately cease to use violence, within Syria and across its borders, and work with the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Kofi Annan on immediate, full and unconditional compliance with the peace plan”, said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.
On Tuesday, Kofi Annan travelled to Turkey to visit the Syrian refugee camps on the Turkish-Syrian border. Over 25,000 Syrians have sought refuge over the border. (CG/transl.rt)