UNITED NATIONS —The Syrian government has agreed to halt the use of heavy weapons against opposition targets and to withdraw its forces from population centers by April 10, envoy Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security Council on Monday.
The latest Syrian commitment, made by Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in a letter to Annan on Sunday, came amid reports that government forces continued to bombard targets in the city of Homs. Some U.N. diplomats voiced skepticism about Syria’s pledge, saying the government has consistently reneged on previous commitments.
“We have seen over the course of the last months promises made and promises broken,” said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “Past experience would lead us to be skeptical and to worry that over the next several days that, rather than a diminution of violence, we might yet again see an escalation of the violence.”
Still, Rice said the 15-nation Security Council would grant Annan additional time to test Syria’s pledge to rein in its forces and would consider his proposal to pull together a U.N. monitoring mission to ensure compliance in a possible cease-fire.
The announcement on a Syrian cease-fire came one day after Western and Arab governments — the so-called Friends of Syria — met in Istanbul to shore up the beleaguered Syrian opposition forces with fresh pledges of money and logistical help.
Despite the commitments to halt attacks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based activist group that tracks violence in Syria, reported more than 100 killed since Sunday, including eight soldiers and nine rebels who died Sunday and 10 civilians killed Monday in Homs, Reuters reported.
