CHINA: Foreign ministry spokesperson says the country welcomes Syria's decision for a ceasefire and urges all sides to honour the agreement

Record ID: 280597

  • Title: CHINA: Foreign ministry spokesperson says the country welcomes Syria's decision for a ceasefire and urges all sides to honour the agreement
  • Date: 13th April 2012
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG FLYING CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU WEIMIN WALKING INTO NEWS BRIEFING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU WEIMIN SAYING: "China welcomes the Syrian government's relevant decision. We believe this decision will help to e
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Reuters ID: LVA10MDMBFLAQZXXUG4QP4HURQS9
  • Story Text: China on Thursday (April 12) welcomed Syria's decision for a ceasefire and called on all sides to honour the agreement.
    Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed ceasefire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.
    But the lull did little to convince opposition activists and Western powers of President Bashar al-Assad's good faith in observing a peace plan agreed with international envoy Kofi Annan.
    China welcomed Syria's decision and urged for all sides to implement Annan's proposal.
    "China welcomes the Syrian government's relevant decision. We believe this decision will help to ease tensions. It is an important step that Syria has taken towards political resolution, and a sign that Annan's mediation efforts has achieved important progress. China also hopes for all sides in Syria to immediately cease fire and implement Annan's six-point proposal," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular news briefing.
    Assaults on restive neighbourhoods had become more intense after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted Annan's timetable.
    Annan has said this week that he has Syrian assurances that the ceasefire would be respected, though his spokesman was at pains on Wednesday to stress that other elements of his plan must also be respected - notably "Item 2", which calls for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of urban areas.
    Syria's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday (April 11) it would halt operations but made no mention of an army pullback from cities and said it would confront "any assault" by armed groups.
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