
Annan: “Syria agrees on April 10 cease-fire”
SYRIAN CONFLICT. The Syrian government, under president Assad, has promised to stop firing and to withdraw from the populated areas it has been pounding with grenades for weeks, the New York Times reports.
According to the special emissary in the Syrian conflict, former UN chief Kofi Annan, who briefed the Security Council on Monday, his group of negotiators has held successful discussions with anti-government forces in Syria in order to have them adhere to a cease-fire. It has been widely expected, the Times reports, that rebels would wait for the Syria government’s forces to stop shooting before they would agree to reciprocate.
Whether the Syrian government will follow the peace plan remains to be seen. Speaking after the briefing from Mr Annan, US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said: “We have seen (…) promises made and promises broken”, the BBC reports.