Saudi Arabia and India agree to study feasibility of establishing power grid    Saudi Awwal Bank records SR5.9 billion net profit after Zakat and Income Tax for YTD Q3    Economy minister emphasizes global partnerships to address pressing challenges Private investments in non-oil sector soar 70%    Saudi Arabia's GDP grows 2.8% in Q3, driven by non-oil sectors    PIF, HKMA sign MoU to establish $1 billion investment fund    Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian men to take off clothes as they evacuated war-torn Jabalya    North Korea fires suspected intercontinental missile    India celebrates Diwali, the festival of lights    'It was like a tsunami': Spaniards recount horror of deadly floods    Bahrain Crown Prince receives Saudi Interior Minister    In-person classes will remain suspended in Jeddah, Rabigh and Khulais schools on Thursday    HR Ministry takes penal action against 568 violators of Domestic Workers' Regulation    Derby Week makes its debut in the Roshn Saudi League    Al Nassr eliminated from King's Cup after a defeat to Al Taawoun    Teri Garr, Young Frankenstein and Tootsie star, dies at 79    Othman Al Omeir receives Legacy of Change Medal at the UK Parliament for advocacy in media    Neymar joins Saudi fashion trend, donning traditional attire at Al Hilal match    Indonesia Days event celebrates cultural diversity at Al Suwaidi Park    Saudi Football Federation reappoints Hervé Renard to lead national team    Tarzan star Ron Ely dies aged 86    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Amid bombing of rebel areas Syria claims to ‘respect' truce
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 19 - 04 - 2012

The situation is not improving. The violence is continuing, the bombardments, particularly in Homs, seem to be increasing. Susan Rice, US Ambassador to UNBEIRUT — Artillery shatters homes in opposition areas. Regime tanks roll though city centers. Civilians dig graves for dozens of corpses, scrawling their names on headstones with black markers.
Six days on, this is the ceasefire in Syria.
As the regime forces fired a barrage of mortar shells at an opposition stronghold Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, insisted that the regime was respecting the ceasefire in line with an international peace plan.
Moallem insisted that Syria was keeping its commitments. Syria will “continue to cooperate” with Annan's efforts, the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Moallem as saying after he met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing.
A troop pullback is a key provision of special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan to end 13 months of bloodshed in Syria, but the regime has ignored last week's deadline of getting tanks and troops off the streets.
Instead, Syrian soldiers continued to pound rebellious areas with artillery after an initial lull at the start of the truce a week ago Thursday, raising growing global concerns that Annan's plan will fail.
But UN chief Ban Ki-moon and others stand by the UN-negotiated truce, saying the violence is sporadic and that President Bashar Al-Assad's regime has lessened its assaults.
Even with dozens reported dead over the past two days, the world powers struggling to stop Syria's bloodshed are reluctant to declare the ceasefire dead.
“That process needs to play itself out before we judge it a success or a failure,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Ban, speaking in Luxembourg, said there has been “sporadic” violence taking place, but “we think that the overall cessation of violence has been generally observed.”
In somewhat more critical comments of the Syrian regime, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad's forces have complied with the ceasefire “in the most grudging way possible” and “not yet met all of its terms.”
Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, said “the situation is not improving. The violence is continuing, the bombardments, particularly in Homs, seem to be increasing, and the conditions that one would want and need to see for the effective deployment of the balance of the monitors are not at present in place.”
France, meanwhile, said 14 foreign ministers would attend a meeting on Syria in Paris on Thursday to send a “strong” message to Al-Assad's regime to implement a peace plan.
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the foreign ministers of the US, Germany, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar and Saudi Arabia would be among those taking part.


Clic here to read the story from its source.