Syria Urges Int’l Support for Annan’s Initiative

Syria took Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the West responsible for undermining the peace plan proposed by the UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, and urged stronger international support for the plan.

Addressing after Annan briefed the UN General Assembly, Syria’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jafari criticized Persian Gulf Arab states for their “petrodollar” support for Syrian opposition groups and lashed out at Turkey for hosting the second so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting last weekend.

“We need to get commitments from the Qataris, from the Saudis, from the Turks, from the French, from the USA, that Annan should be given a chance in order to succeed,” Jafari said.

“We need a crystal-cut commitment and a guarantee by Mr Annan himself – after he consults with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the others – that once the government will observe and will respect the end of violence, the other parties will do the same and will not fill the vacuum,” he added.

Meantime, Annan announced Syria has started pulling troops out of several cities in accordance with a peace plan.

Annan told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that the Syrian government told him it had started a “partial withdrawal” from cities of Idlib, Zabadani and Daraa.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross says Damascus has agreed to give the organization access to prison facilities across Syria.

An advance team led by the Norwegian general Robert Mood arrived in Damascus today to discuss the deployment of UN observers to monitor the ceasefire plan in Syria.

On Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad agreed to an April 10 deadline to implement international envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan, which calls for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from population centers and a cease-fire.