Live coverage of developments in Syria as Assad forces 'kill three civilians' and justify Western scepticism about today's UN-backed ceasefire.
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Kofi Annan (top left) said he had received a promise from Mr Assad's government that it would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory"
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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair Photo: PA
By Ruth Sherlock, Richard Spencer and Lucy Jones
6:18PM BST 12 Apr 2012
• Reports say three civilians killed in Hama
• Syrian government says it will honour ceasefire
• West sceptical about Syrian ceasefire
• Tony Blair: 'Syria crisis can still be solved with negotiations'
• Cameron urges Russia, China to 'tighten noose' around Syria
• Kofi Annan calls on Iran's help in Syria crisis
Latest
18:28 That's all for us for this evening.
18:15 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the ceasefire in Syria is an "important step" if it holds.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime must carry out the entire six-point peace plan brokered by UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, Clinton added, saying it "cannot pick and choose."
17:33 Our Middle East correspondent Richard Spencer comments on theTurkish prime minister threat to invoke NATO's mutual assistance treaty clauses in the face of Syria's border violations:
Turkey has resurrected the prospect of western military intervention in the Syrian crisis, threatening to invoke NATO's self-defence mechanisms over violations of its territory by Assad regime troops.
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, used an interview while returning from a visit to China to repeat calls for United Nations action against Syria, and went on to refer to Article 5 of the NATO treaty. That calls an attack on one NATO member like Turkey an attack on all members.
Invoking the treaty would allow NATO members to take military action against Syria legally without a UN security council resolution. Article 5 has only been invoked on one previous occasion - in the action taken against Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
You can read the original interview here.
17:29 Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Barack Obama of the United States demanded Thursday that Syria respect the terms of a peace plan drawn up by a UN envoy and the Arab League.
The French presidency announced the joint call in a statement after the leaders held videophone talks on a series of world crises, and warned that Bashar al-Assad's regime would be "judged on its actions".
17:09 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military forces must return to their barracks says Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, as tanks are spotted hovering at the edge of towns in the country:
16:49 AFP report that Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi hailed news that a ceasefire appeared to be holding in Syria, where a conflict has killed thousands since March last year.
In a statement, Arabi "welcomed this positive development and urged the (UN-Arab League) joint envoy to send observers to Syria soon to monitor the ceasefire."
16:06 Kofi Annan says he is encouraged by reports that Syria is relatively calm:
Syria is apparently experiencing a rare moment of calm on the ground. This is bringing much-needed relief and hope to the Syrian people who have suffered so much for so long in this brutal conflict. This must now be sustained. All parties have obligations to implement fully the six-point plan. This includes both the military provisions of the plan and the commitment to move to a political process. I urge all Syrians to seize this opportunity.
The international community is determined to work with the Syrian people to support this process.
The (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will be asking the Security Council for approval of the deployment of a UN observer mission as soon as possible. This will allow us to move quickly to launch a serious dialogue that will address the concerns and asirations of the Syrian people.
This is the time for all Syrians to come together in the hope that they can begin to heal their wounds and initiate a political transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens have equal rights and equal opportunities, regardless of their affiliations or ethnicities or beliefs.
16:06 Here's Ruth Sherlock in Beirut:
Speaking from the restive Damascus suburb of Daraya, activist Maher reports that young men participated in a peaceful anti-government demonstration without any harassment by government security forces. The demonstration ended about 20 minutes ago.
"Young men gathered in a square in the middle of the suburb and protested for about 20 minutes. This is not so common; usually we can only meet for 2 or 3 minutes before the security forces start shooting at us. Today we were lucky, we even managed to raise the independence flag!"
15:58 The Prime Minister says the only way to avoid further bloodshed in Syria is for President Bashar al-Assad's regime to change.
15.40 Kofi Annan says he is encouraged that cessation of hostilities in Syria appears to be holding, AP reports.
15:10 The Telegraph's David Blair argues that it would be entirely rational for Bashar al-Assad to observe ceasefire. He says:
For the best part of two months, he has been conducting a brutal offensive against his opponents, stamping his authority on the cities and reimposing his control along the borders with Turkey and Lebanon.
Now that Assad has largely achieved his military goals, the status quo serves his interests. So it makes sense for him to freeze the present situation with a ceasefire. If the rebels try to challenge this, Assad can blame them for breaking the agreement.
Syria: it would be entirely rational for Bashar al-Assad to observe ceasefire
14:15 Our video team interviewed Abo Allith, an activist in Homs. He claims that there have been four mortar attacks in Homs today despite the ceasefire.
13.45 State media has accused "terrorists" of planting the roadside bomb which they claim has killed one officer:
At eight in the morning a terrorist group targeted a bus carrying a number of officers driving to work in Aleppo.
13:30 AFP reports that a 'terrorist' attack in Syria's Aleppo has killed one soldier, wounds 24.
13:23 AFP reports that Syria's government on Thursday offered an amnesty to opposition gunmen without "blood on their hands," urging them to surrender as a UN-backed ceasefire entered into force.
"The interior ministry calls on gunmen whose hands have not been stained with Syrian blood to hand themselves in, along with their weapons, at the nearest police centre. They would be released and all legal procedures against them would be terminated," it said, quoted by state television.
13:01 Syria opposition SNC says 3 civilians killed, dozens arrested since ceasefire.
According to reports from the ground two of the victims were in the Hama region and there were arrests in Aleppo and Daraa, Basma Qoudmani said, adding, "We have visual proofs, videos and photos that heavy weapons are still in populated areas."
12:42 Ruth Sherlock reports from Beirut:
This video captured by activist Abu Rabea' purports to show shells landing on Homs Old City today, fired from Homs castle, that for that past months has been a military post for Syrian government troops activists say:
"We have no weapons like these," says activist Mohammed al Qusair in explenation of how he knows this is firing by the regime. "The most powerful weapon by the FSA is RPG."
12:30 AFP confirm that a civilian has been shot dead, ending the ceasefire:
Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shot dead a civilian on Thursday in the central province of Hama, hours after a UN-backed ceasefire took effect, a monitoring group said.
The man was shot dead by either the regular armed forces or loyalist Shabiha militiamen outside the town of Mharadeh, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria had said it would halt military operations against rebels at daybreak Thursday, the day set by the UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan as a deadline to implement a ceasefire aimed to end 13 months of bloodshed.
12:10 Avaaz, the global campaigning organisation are reporting from the ground:
5 tanks and 3 armoured vehicles are deployed to Tal Rifaat, a residential town in the suburbs of Aleppo.
At 9:05, three more rounds of gunfire were heard by a citizen journalist in Khaldiyeh, reportedly coming from Tareeq Hama, close to where the shells had fallen.
11:57 AFP report that Syrian forces have killed one civilian in Hama. If confirmed, this will break the ceasefire.
11:45 The Telegraph's Ruth Sherlock is in Beirut points us to the global campaigning organisation Avaaz who have started an interactive map showing where the ceasefire is holding, and where violations have taken place. She reports:
Waleed Fares speaking from Khalidiya in Homs reports that though there has not yet been shelling this morning, tanks are stationed in his neighbourhood, and snipers are positioned on the rooftops surrounding the district. "I can move around inside Khalidiya, but I cannot leave the neighbourhood. There are tanks and snipers".
10:56 Syrian foreign minister Jihad Makdissi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that President Assad's government had no intention of breaking the ceasefire and had already made several military drawbacks.
Mr Makdissi said the Syrian government was prepared to enter a process to end the conflict but said President Assad retained the support of a "majority" of Syrians. He said:
What is important is everybody should abide by the terms of calm. (Kofi Annan) is asking cessation of violence by all parties, not only the Syrian government.
For our side we are fully committed for this.
We have a clear mechanism now in place, which is the Annan plan... we are enabling him.
It is not about President Assad.... the realistic prospect is it is up to Syrians themselves to decide.
Anybody who wants to change the regime in Syria, they should not be forcing this, they should do it through democratic channels.
You have to be even-handed. The violence is mutual in Syria. I'm not saying we don't have problems in Syria.
What I am saying is the way out is evolution and not armed confrontation.
10:54 This timeline outlines key dates in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, where monitors say violence has killed more than 10,000 people
10:47 Tony Blair has said that it is still possible for President Assad to engage in a negotiated settlement to end the conflict in Syria. Rosa Prince reports:
The former prime minister said it appeared unlikely that the Syrian regime would abide by the timetable set by Kofi Annan, the United Nations Special Envoy, to stop violence by 6am Thursday.
But, he went on, it was still “possible” for there to be an “agreed process of transition.
Watch:
CNN
10:10 Reports so far suggest the ceasefire is being observed. However, activists have seen no sign that Mr Assad is withdrawing his forces out of restive cities.
David Cameron has urged Russia and China to join the world in "tightening the noose" around the Syrian regime as a UN-backed ceasefire. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 during his South East Asia trade mission this morning, Mr Cameron said:
I feel an immense sense of frustration because the world has come together behind this Kofi Annan plan.
This is a plan, remember, that is not just backed by those of us who have been pushing for action on Syria, it's also backed by China and Russia.
And yet Assad is deliberately flouting it.
Now is the time to say to the Russians and Chinese, look at the man we are dealing with, look at the appalling way he is behaving.
10:00 A ceasefire brokered by Kofi Annan came into effect at 6:00am (0300 GMT) this morning. Richard Spencer reports:
Kofi Annan, the United Nations envoy and architect of the ceasefire proposal, said he had received a promise from Mr Assad's government that it would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory" at 6am local time, in accordance with the plan.
Syrian state television read out a similar pledge. "After our armed forces completed successful operations in combating the criminal acts of the armed terrorist groups and enforced the state's rule over its territory, it has been decided to stop these operations from Thursday morning," it said.
The deadline passed without bloodshed this morning, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting that the situation was "calm" an hour after the ultimatum.
A "few explosions" were heard in the town of Zabadani, just outside the capital, shortly after the ceasefire entered into effect, Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory said.
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