UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaking in Geneva said that presently this is a critical point for Syria, and the world is watching with skepticism due to previous promises being broken by the government of Syria. He has said that Syria's words on a ceasefire should be will be matched by their deeds, but that UN military action to get Syria would not be an option. Obviously Syria's adherence to the ceasefire is therefore voluntary.Many including the Arab-envoy Kofi Annan are concerned that Syria may not comply with all the points in the peace plan set down by the UN. Under these terms the six- point peace plan agreed to by Syria, all violence and fighting was to stop on today.
Mr Ban Ki-Moon said today: "Joint special envoy Kofi Annan and I and many world leaders have made it quite clear that any militarization or any military operation is not an option. It will only complicate and worsen the situation and thus arming opposition forces is not desirable."
Today's ceasefire followed Kofi Annan receiving a letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria informing him of the Syrian Governments decision "to cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 6 a.m. Damascus time 12 April" but it also said it wanted to keep the right to respond to any attacks carried out by terrorist groups or civilians against "government forces or public and private property.”
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- Syria says it will respect Kofi Annan's ceasefire plan - The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
- Syria vows to adhere to deadline set by U.N. (timesleader.com)
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