UN Security Council backs Syria peace plan

Source: Aljazeera

The United Nations Security Council has adopted a statement backing joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's plan for ending the violence in Syria, as a government crackdown on opposition strongholds has continued. The statement has the backing of all 15 members of the council, including China and Russia, who have twice vetoed earlier UNSC resolutions on the crisis, citing concerns that the UN was taking sides.

The statement expressed the council's "full support" for Annan's efforts, and called upon both the government and the opposition "to work in good faith with the envoy towards a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis" and to fully implement his six-point proposal. The plan calls for a ceasefire to be established, as well as for both sides to engage in political dialogue and to allow humanitarian aid agencies access to areas where citizens have been caught up in an increasingly militarised conflict.

One of the major sticking points over a resolution on the crisis has been on the issue of how a ceasefire is implemented. While previous resolutions have called for the government's forces to stop firing first, Russia and China have insisted that both the government and opposition must lay down arms simultaneously.

The current statement calls on the Syrian government to "immediately cease troop movements towards, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population centres, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres".

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/03/201232114131971935.html