Israel sees limits of Trump support with Syria pullout

JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders have lauded Donald Trump for his list of decisions in support of their country since taking office, but the mercurial president's withdrawal of US troops from Syria will not rank among them.

After Trump's surprise announcement of the pullout last week, Israel is concerned over whether its main enemy Iran will have a freer hand to operate in the neighbouring country, analysts say.

Israel's response to the announcement has been measured -- careful to point out that it respects the US decision, coupled with pledges to continue to defend its interests in Syria.


But beneath those public pronouncements are worries over whether Iran will seek to take advantage of the US absence from the war-torn country and if Russia will respond to Israel's calls to limit it.

Beyond that, the manner in which the decision was taken and announced -- and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis's resignation in response -- may also give Israeli leaders pause, some analysts say.

"Since it's our major ally, we want the United States to be strong ... and we want an ally which is being perceived in the region as strong and effective," said Eyal Zisser, vice rector of Tel Aviv University and who has written extensively on Syria.

"And I think that what worries some Israelis is what message does this decision -- the way it was taken, what stood behind it -- send to the region?"

'Even expand our activities'

The United States has only around 2,000 troops in Syria focused on fighting the Islamic State group, but they have been deployed in two areas along the Iraqi border, helping keep Iranian movement into the country in check.

There have been warnings from Israel and others that Iran is seeking to form a "land bridge" across to the Mediterranean, and some analysts have said that the US withdrawal could help that effort.

With Iran supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country's civil war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long pledged to keep it from entrenching itself militarily next door.

Israel has repeatedly taken action, carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced arms deliveries to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group.

With the United States pulling out, Israel may look more to Russia, which is also backing Assad, to use its influence to limit Iran, some analysts say.

But that is not a given, and a friendly fire incident in September that led to a Russian plane being downed by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike remains an issue.

The incident angered Russia and complicated Israel's operations in Syria, particularly after Moscow's delivery of the advanced S-300 air defence system there in response.

Netanyahu and Israel's military chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, on Sunday sought to tamp down concerns over the withdrawal.

The Israeli premier has indicated he was not taken off-guard, saying he had spoken with Trump two days before the December 19 announcement as well as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the previous day.

"The decision to remove the 2,000 US soldiers from Syria won't change our consistent policy," Netanyahu said Sunday.

"We will continue to act against Iran's attempt to establish a military presence in Syria, and if the need arises, we will even expand our activities there."

'A free ride'

Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu and ex-military intelligence official, noted US troops were not directly involved in Israel's fight against Iran's presence in Syria.

But he said concerns over whether Iran will take advantage of the US withdrawal were legitimate.

"From now on, it will be a free ride for the Iranians and they will use the corridor logistically to enhance their capabilities to build the military forces in Syria and to help Hezbollah afterwards," he told AFP.

An analysis by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank said "Israel is among the most important losers" of the withdrawal, along with the United States' Kurdish allies in Syria.

But Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will continue to "defend ourselves" and Eisenkot, the military chief of staff, called it "a significant event but it should not be overstated".

"For decades we’ve been handling this front alone," said Eisenkot.

source: philstar.com

Pentagon chief warns Syria against using chemical weapons

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said during a visit to Israel on Friday there can be "no doubt" Syria has retained some chemical weapons and warned President Bashar al-Assad's regime not to use them.
Mattis made the comments as he began a one-day visit for talks with Israeli leaders, who strongly supported the recent US strike against an airbase in neighbouring Syria over an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town.
"The bottom line is there can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its agreement and its statement that it had removed them all," Mattis said during a press conference with Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
"It's a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions, and it's going to have to be taken up diplomatically, and they'd be ill-advised to try to use any again. We've made that very clear with our strike."
Mattis added that Syria had "dispersed their aircraft in recent days."
An Israeli military assessment has found that Assad's regime was still in possession of "a few tonnes" of chemical weapons, an army official confirmed.
Some Israeli media reports put the number at between one and three tonnes. Lieberman declined to comment on the assessment at Friday's press conference.
Assad, backed by his ally Russia, has strongly denied the allegation that his forces used chemical weapons against the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on April 4, describing it as a "100 per cent fabrication".
He has said repeatedly that his forces turned over all chemical weapons stockpiles in 2013, under a deal brokered by Russia to avoid threatened US military action.
The agreement was later enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution.
Talks with Netanyahu 
Mattis was later holding talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, followed by President Reuven Rivlin.
Israel and the United States have long had close strategic ties, with Washington providing Israel more than $3bn per year in defence aid and President Donald Trump pledging unstinting support for the country.
Despite tensions over Israeli settlement building, Barack Obama's administration signed a new agreement with Israel before he left office increasing the amount to $3.8bn for a 10-year period beginning in 2018.
Mattis hopes to hear directly from Israeli leaders on their concerns and what they expect from the Trump administration, a US defence official said.
In a further sign of close relations, Israel is to receive three more F-35 stealth fighter jets on Sunday, adding to two which arrived in December.
They are among 50 that Israel has agreed to buy from US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.

source: gulf-times.com

Russian air strikes in Syria killed more than 1,300: monitor

BEIRUT - More than 1,300 people, around two-thirds of them combatants, have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria since Moscow's aerial campaign began on September 30, a monitor said Friday.

The figure supplied by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is more that double the overall toll it gave in its last report on the Russian campaign three weeks ago.

The Britain-based Observatory said it had documented 1,331 deaths in Russian air strikes, most of them of Islamic State group jihadists or other fighters..

It said 381 IS fighters had been killed, along with 547 militants from Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and other rebel forces.

The strikes also killed 403 civilians, including 97 children, according to the monitor.

The Observatory's last toll for the campaign, on October 29, put the number of killed at nearly 600.

Russia says its aerial campaign targets IS and other "terrorists" but rebel forces and their backers accuse Moscow of focusing on moderate and Islamist fighters over jihadists.

Several medical groups have also accused Russia of strikes that have hit field clinics and hospitals in Syria.

Russia's intervention in Syria follows that of a US-led coalition that has been carrying out strikes against IS in the country since September 2014.

The US-led coalition does not coordinate with Damascus however.

According to the Observatory, the US-led coalition air strikes have killed at least 3,649 people since they began, around six percent of them civilians.

The monitor said in late October that US-led raids had killed 3,276 IS fighters, 147 members of Al-Nusra or Islamist groups and 226 civilians.

source: interaksyon.com

PSEi slips below 6,000-mark on fears of US strike against Syria

Philippine share prices fell sharply on Wednesday to pull down the benchmark index below the 6,000-mark as renewed concern over an imminent US military strike against Syria weighed on investor sentiment.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the local barometer dropped 115.58 points or 1.90 percent to finish at 5,968.33. The PSE index (PSEi) shed as much as 2.4 percent in early trade.

All counters shed at least a percent each led by the holding firm sub-index with a decline of 2.29 percent. There were three losers for every gainer, while 48 issues were unchanged. A total of 976.52 million shares worth P6 billion changed hands.

Most actively traded stocks were SM Investments, PLDT, Ayala Corp, Ayala Land and GT Capital. Top advancers were iRipple, Maybank ATR and Century Properties, while the biggest losers were ATN B, Medco and RFM.

"Renewed concerns in the Middle East and the strengthening dollar scared off the investors," said Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc.

"Moving forward, the concerns now will be the inflationary effect towards growth especially if the US will pursue such attack on Syria. It will possibly impede global growth," del Castillo said.

Coming off the Labor Day public holiday, US stocks closed higher following the release of favorable economic reports on manufacturing and construction spending, but trimmed gains after key US Congressional leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, backed President Barack Obama's call for military action against Syria.

The US had condemned Syria’s chemical attack that killed nearly 1,500 people in Damascus.

Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.65 points or 0.16 percent, to 14,833.96.

source: interaksyon.com

Pope announces world day of fasting, prayer for Syria

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has called for the world to unite on Saturday in a day of fasting and prayer for Syria and said "God and history" would judge anyone using chemical weapons.

"May the cry for peace enter the hearts of everyone," the pope told tens of thousands of pilgrims at his traditional weekly blessing in the Vatican on Sunday.

"I condemn with particular force the use of chemical weapons. I still have in my mind and heart the terrible images of the past days," he said.

"There is judgment from God and history on our actions that no one can escape," he said, in his first explicit reference to the chemical arms claims.

He urged the international community to make "every effort" to begin a process of dialogue in Syria.

The pope said he would lead the prayers with a five-hour vigil in St Peter's Square on Saturday, just two days before the US Congress meets to debate possible strikes by the United States on Syria.

The relatively rare call for a global day of fasting and prayer was similar to one made by late pope John Paul II following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Vatican expert Luigi Accattoli told AFP.

Although he did not apportion blame for the alleged chemical attack, the pope's reference to divine judgment was also similar to John Paul II's call for members of the Italian mafia to confess their crimes and repent, Accattoli said.

His exhortation "Never again to war!" echoed a famous speech made by another of his predecessors, Paul VI, at the United Nations during the Vietnam War.

The pope's call came as the United States, France and other countries were making plans for a limited armed response against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

The Vatican has repeatedly pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict and has already criticised plans by global powers for an armed intervention.

It has been more cautious, however, than some Christian leaders in Syria and the region who have openly defended the current Syrian government seeing it as a guarantor of a multi-religious state.

Christian minorities are concerned about the rise of radical Islam in the region and point to the example of Iraq, where there has been an exodus of Christians faced with violence and discrimination.

"My heart is profoundly wounded in these days by what is happening in Syria and I am anxious about the prospect of dramatic developments," the pope said.

"War leads to more war, violence to more violence," he said, voicing hope that "a chain of commitment for peace will unite all women and men of good will."

"Never again to war!" the pope said in his emotional speech, echoing a call made by late pope Paul VI at the United Nations during the Vietnam War.

The pope said he extended his invitation to push for peace in Syria to all Christians and the faithful from other religions, as well as non-believers.

"With all my strength, I call on the warring parties to listen to the voice of their own consciences, not to close themselves in their own interests but to look on the other as a brother," he said.

Saturday's prayers in St Peter's Square will begin at 1700 GMT and end at 2200 GMT, he said.

Fasting in the Catholic tradition is not as strictly interpreted as in other denominations or faiths.

"Everyone interprets it how they want. It can mean not eating or not drinking or missing only some meals or some courses in a meal," Accattoli said.

He said there have been other days of fasting and prayer for peace in Catholic Church history but these are rarely linked to a specific conflict.

source: interaksyon.com

PSEi returns above 6,100-mark

 Philippine share prices extended their gains on Friday to lift the composite index near the 6,100 level.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the benchmark index opened slightly higher with a gain of 0.7 percent, with buying momentum accelerating as the session progressed.

At the close of trades, the composite index rose 130.96 points or 2.20 percent to end the week at 6,075.17. All sectors finished in the green with the property, holding firm and industrial counters up at least two percent each.


There were two gainers for every loser, while 37 issues were unchanged. A total of 1.26 billion stocks worth P14.43 million changed hands.

Most actively traded stocks were SM Investments, Ayala Land, PLDT, SM Prime and Ayala Corp. Top advancers were A Brown, Nextstage and Berjaya, while the biggest losers were Jolliville, Calapan Ventures and Cyber Bay.

The rally was fueled by window dressing and follow-through buying after the government reported economic growth that topped expectations, said Joseph Roxas, president at Eagle Equities Inc.

The Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 7.5 percent in the second quarter, defying the slump in the region and making it one of Asia's fastest growing.

"The GDP data came at a time when the market was ready for a rebound," said Roxas.

Prior to yesterday's 3.6 percent gain, the main index had been bleeding in four of the last five sessions, with losses aggregating nearly 13 percent.  Escalating political tensions in Syria and the prospect of the US Federal Reserve winding down its stimulus program had been weighing on global stock markets.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.44 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 14,840.95 amid further signs of an improving US economy.

Data showed the world’s largest economy grew at a revised rate of 2.5 percent in the second quarter, higher than the initial estimate of 1.7 percent. Meanwhile, applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.

Tempering gains in Wall Street were lingering concerns over a possible Western-led military strike against Syria for using chemical weapons in a massive deadly attack last week.

source: interaksyon.com

Wall Street rises on economy, but Syria concerns limit gains

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday as the economy showed signs of improvement, but uncertainty over possible military action against Syria continued to pressure markets.



Talks that could lead to a major deal in which U.S. phone company Verizon buys the part of Verizon Wireless it doesn't already own from Vodafone helped push stocks higher.



Wall Street was solidly higher most of the session but pared gains in the last hour on concerns over Syria. Many in the market expect a strike by the United States and its allies because of an alleged poison gas attack by government forces that killed Syrian civilians. U.S. officials said a response would be "discrete and limited.



"That there will be an attack is priced into markets, but there's no way the market appreciates the implications beyond that if the U.S. were to go to war," said Joe Tanious, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds in New York.



"It will create a lot of side effects the market isn't aware of, with the impact on oil the main complication."



U.S. crude futures have spiked 2.2 percent this week on tensions oil supply from the Middle East will be interrupted.



Stocks rose after the government said in an upwardly revised estimate the economy expanded by a stronger-than-expected 2.5 percent in the second quarter. In a separate report, it said weekly jobless claims fell more than anticipated last week, a possible sign that hiring improved in August.



The Dow Jones industrial average was up 16.36 points, or 0.11 percent, at 14,840.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 3.21 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,638.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.95 points, or 0.75 percent, at 3,620.30.



The S&P was unable to close above its 100-day moving average for a third straight day, an indication that near-term momentum may fade.



The robust data could bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to soon wind down a major economic stimulus program that has driven a rally of more than 15 percent in the S&P 500 this year.



The data "reiterates that the economy continues to grow, which is supportive to risk assets and bodes well for the prospect of future growth," said Tanious, who helps oversee $1.5 trillion in assets.



"That the market is reacting positively to this shows that investors have become more comfortable with the idea of tapering."



U.S.-listed shares of Vodafone Group jumped 8.1 percent to $31.80 as the biggest percentage gainer on the Nasdaq 100 index after the company said it was in talks with Verizon Communications to sell its 45 percent stake in their U.S. joint venture, Verizon Wireless.



If completed, the deal could be worth around $130 billion, according to a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified. Verizon rose 2.7 percent to $47.82 as one of the top boosts to the Dow.



Homebuilding stocks were among the strongest of the day. Lennar Corp rose 3.2 percent to $32.62 while PulteGroup Inc was up 3.1 percent to $15.86.



After the market's close, software company Salesforce.com Inc raised its full-year revenue outlook, sending its shares 6.8 percent higher to $46.60.



Guess Inc jumped 13 percent to $30.82 in the wake of second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates, bucking a trend of falling sales for apparel retailers.



Campbell Soup Co fell 3.1 percent to $43.33 after reporting revenue that missed expectations.



About 63 percent of companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher while almost 70 percent of Nasdaq-listed shares ended higher. Volume was light, with about 4.74 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average so far this year of about 6.31 billion shares.

source: interaksyon.com

UN inspectors visit site of Syria poison gas attack as UK says West might act sans Security Council

DAMASCUS -- A six-car convoy of United Nations inspectors left a Damascus hotel on Monday and headed to the scene of a poison gas attack outside the Syrian capital last week, a Reuters witness said.

The team of chemical weapons experts, dressed in blue UN body armor, were accompanied by security forces and an ambulance.

They said they were headed to the rebel-held outskirts of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, where activists say rockets loaded with poison gas killed hundreds of people.

This happened as British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it would be possible to respond to chemical weapons use in Syria without the unanimous backing of the United Nations Security Council.

"Is it possible to respond to chemical weapons without complete unity on the U.N. Security Council? I would argue yes it is otherwise it might be impossible to respond to such outrages, such crimes, and I don't think that's an acceptable situation," Hague said on BBC radio.

The West accuses the Syrian government of mounting the poison gas attack.

But in an interview with a Russian newspaper Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dismissed allegations his forces used chemical weapons and warned Washington that any US military intervention would fail.

"Failure awaits the United States as in all previous wars it has unleashed, starting with Vietnam and up to the present day," he told the Izvestia daily when asked what would happen if Washington decided to strike or invade Syria.

Assad said Syrian government forces had been close to where rebel forces say chemical weapons were used last week during the country's more than two-year-old civil war.

"Would any state use chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction in a place where its own forces are concentrated? That would go against elementary logic," Assad told Izvestia, a pro-Kremlin newspaper.

Russia has been Assad's most important international ally throughout the civil war, supplying his troops with arms and resisting pressure at the United Nations for tighter sanctions on Damascus.

Asked about the arms deliveries, Assad said: "I want to say that all contracts that have been concluded with Russia are being fulfilled."

He gave no details and did not say whether Damascus had taken delivery of advanced S-300 sir defense systems from Russia, which could vastly enhance its defense capabilities.

source: interaksyon.com

Summit of Islamic nations opens in Cairo

CAIRO - The 12th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation opened in Cairo on Wednesday, with Syria's civil war and the battle against Islamist militants in Mali topping the agenda.

The meeting gathers the leaders of 26 of the OIC's 57 states, including the presidents of Iran and Turkey.

Senegalese President Macky Sall gave the opening remarks, making his last address before handing the OIC's rotating presidency to Egypt's first Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi.

He urged the summit to support the sovereignty of Mali, threatened by "terrorist groups" who are committing "crimes" against the Malian people.

source: interaksyon.com

WikiLeaks begins publishing two million Syria emails

LONDON - WikiLeaks said Thursday it was publishing over two million emails from Syrian political figures dating back to 2006 but also covering the period of the crackdown on dissent by Syria's regime.

"Just now... WikiLeaks began publishing the Syria files, more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies dating from August 2006 to March 2012," said Sarah Harrison, spokeswoman for the anti-secrecy website.

The latest disclosures could throw fresh light on the workings of the Syrian regime and its interactions with allies in the run-up to and during the current bloody crackdown.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the 16 months of bloodshed in Syria have claimed more than 16,500 lives.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London seeking political asylum, said in a written statement: "The material is embarrassing to Syria, but it is also embarrassing to Syria's external opponents.

"It helps us not merely to criticise one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts.

"It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it."

WikiLeaks said the first files, released on Wednesday, reveal that Italian defence giant Finmeccanica has provided communications equipment to the Syrian regime since the unrest began.

The communications system was provided by Finmeccanica's subsidiary SELEX Elsag, in claims by WikiLeaks published by Italian magazine L'Espresso.

WikiLeaks' announcement comes a day after Russia denied having discussed with Washington offering exile to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

It also comes ahead of a meeting Friday in Paris of the "Friends of Syria" group of countries which support tougher action against Assad's government.

WikiLeaks said the 2,434,899 emails came from Syrian ministries including foreign affairs, finance and presidential affairs. There are around 400,000 emails in Arabic but also 68,000 in Russian.

Harrison said WikiLeaks could not comment on the full contents of the release, which is being organised in collaboration with media partners in countries including the US, Lebanon, Egypt, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

"This is a large data set. It will take time for these stories to come out," she said at a press conference in London announcing the release.

She refused to comment on how WikiLeaks had obtained the emails, telling AFP: "We never comment on our sourcing."

The publication comes amid continued wrangling between world powers about how the bloody conflict in Syria should be tackled.

Russia has indicated it will stay away from the Paris meeting on Friday after accusing the West of seeking to distort a deal struck last weekend for a political transition in the violence-hit nation.

Moscow's move to shun the gathering comes after UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan stressed that a ceasefire was imperative.

Assange, meanwhile, has been inside the Ecuadorian embassy since June 19 in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he sexually assaulted two female former WikiLeaks volunteers.

Assange denies the allegations, which he says are politically motivated. The 40-year-old Australian fears he could be extradited from Sweden to the United States, where he claims he could face the death penalty.

WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by publishing a flood of secret documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as more than 250,000 confidential US diplomatic cables that embarrassed a slew of governments.

The Syria files are WikiLeaks' first major publication since it began disclosing internal emails from the US-based intelligence firm Stratfor in February.

WikiLeaks was forced to suspend many of its publishing operations last October after Visa, MasterCard and PayPal refused to continue processing donations to the whistleblowing website.

source: interaksyon.com

First U.N. observers arrive in Syria as clashes continue

DAMASCUS — The first international observers tasked with monitoring a shaky U.N.-backed ceasefire arrived Sunday in Syria, where regime forces pounded a rebel city and killed five civilians.

“They’ve arrived and they will start work tomorrow morning,” said Kieran Dwyer, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping department announcing that six observers were now in Syria.

Earlier forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed five civilians in shelling of rebel areas in the flashpoint central city of Homs and clashes with gunmen.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “very much concerned” at the renewed killings and urged the government to ensure that the ceasefire does not collapse.

State-run news agency SANA said Syria “welcomes” the observer mission, and hoped the monitors will see for themselves the “crimes” committed by “armed terrorist groups.”

SANA also reported that Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will visit ally China to discuss the mission of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan who designed the ceasefire.

Regime forces subjected the Khaldiyeh and Bayada neighborhoods of Homs to their fiercest bombardment since the truce came into force at dawn on Thursday, monitors said.

“The bombardment of Khaldiyeh intensified this morning with an average of three shells a minute,” the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

Three civilians were killed in Homs city, including one in Khaldiyeh, he said, while a fourth was shot dead in central Hama province and the fifth died in the Damascsus suburb of Douma.

With clashes warming up and both sides blaming each other for the violence, Syria insisted that its sovereignty must be respected.

“Syria endorsed the U.N. observer mission because it has nothing to hide and hopes that these observers will convey the real picture of what is happening on the ground,” the official news agency said.

SANA reiterated the regime’s repeated accusations that “armed terrorist groups funded and armed by foreign parties” are responsible for the violence in Syria.

Syria accepted observers because its “main request was the monitoring of the terrorists’ crimes” and because it was part Annan’s six-point plan which Damascus accepted, SANA said.

Thirty-two people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the ceasefire brokered by Annan took effect at dawn Thursday, according to the Observatory.

The death toll is sharply down on pre-ceasefire levels after Syria announced it was halting military operations against the rebels on Thursday.

The authorities on Sunday charged that rebels had “intensified” attacks on security forces and civilians, warning of a response, as state media published a list of alleged acts of violence.

Security forces “will prevent the terrorist groups from continuing their criminal attacks,” said a military official quoted on state media, accusing the rebels of a deliberate escalation to wreck the truce.

Ban voiced concern over the shelling of Homs.

“I am very much concerned about what has happened since yesterday and today,” he said. “It is important, absolutely important, that the Syrian government should take all the measures to keep this cessation of violence.”

The U.N. chief said he would present on Thursday his proposal to enlarge the U.N. monitoring mission, which will have 30 unarmed military observers at first, to 250 people.

The six observers who arrived Sunday in Syria are the first of 30 monitors who were approved by the U.N. Security Council in a vote Saturday. “The other monitors in the advance party are still expected in Syria in coming days,” Dwyer added.

On Saturday he told AFP they would come from missions around the Middle East and Africa “so we can move people quickly and they are experienced in the region.”

China and Russia, which raised earlier reservations over the text and vetoed past resolutions, backed Saturday’s vote, ensuring passage of the first Security Council resolution on Syria since the uprising erupted in March 2011.

State news agency SANA said Muallem would visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

“During the visit, Muallem will discuss means of enhancing bilateral relations and the mission of… Annan,” the agency reported giving no date for the two-day visit.

U.N. Resolution 2042 approved the sending of 30 unarmed military observers as soon as possible and called on both Syrian government and opposition forces to halt “armed violence in all its forms.”

It also urged the government to “implement visibly” all its commitments under Annan’s peace plan, including the withdrawal of all troops and heavy guns from cities.

Assad and the opposition must also “guarantee the safety of the advance team without prejudice to its freedom of movement and access,” and the “primary responsibility” for observers’ safety will rest with the Syrian government.

The resolution’s passage was welcomed by Syria’s main opposition.

“We are ready to act to make the Annan plan a success,” the Syrian National Council said in a statement signed by its leader Burhan Ghalioun.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the resolution “presents an unequivocal call from the international community to the Syrian regime to stop violence against its population and to address urgent humanitarian needs.”

The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed since the uprising began. Monitors say the death toll has topped 10,000.

source: japantoday.com