SYRIA: U.N. observers mission to Syria is acting fast to increase the number of monitors stationed around troubled regions, says official

Record ID: 280674

  • Title: SYRIA: U.N. observers mission to Syria is acting fast to increase the number of monitors stationed around troubled regions, says official
  • Date: 30th April 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (APRIL 29, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.N. MONITORS WALKING OUT OF RESTAURANT TOWARDS JOURNALISTS NEERAJ SINGH, OFFICIAL OF THE U.N. ADVANCED TEAM, TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) OFFICIAL OF THE U.N. ADVANCED TEAM, NEERAJ SINGH, SAYING: "This is a matter of utmost urgency for the United Nations and all efforts are in place to make sure tha
  • Embargoed: 15th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAOS51HD6T51N3E348BH1B4W8L
  • Story Text: The U.N. observers mission to Syria is acting fast to increase the number of monitors stationed around troubled regions of Syria, an official with the U.N. advanced team said in Damascus on Sunday (April 29).
    "This is a matter of utmost urgency for the United Nations and all efforts are in place to make sure that we get the people on the ground as quickly as possible, even from the advanced team that was here (Damascus) until now, as you saw already, apart from Damascus we have permanently based observers in Homs, Hama, Deraa and Idlib, so this process will continue," he told journalists, as monitors set out for fresh field visits to troubled areas.
    Singh added that Major General Robert Mood, a Norwegian who was appointed Head of the U.N. supervision mission in Syria, would arrive in the capital Damascus later on Sunday. Mood is said to be a veteran of struggling Middle East truces who knows Syria well.
    U.N. monitors continue to trickle into Syria to observe the ceasefire announced on April 10 and officials say 30 of a planned 300-strong mission should be in place by Monday (April 30), to reinforce observers already stationed in anti-Assad hotbeds such as Idlib, Hama, Homs and Deraa.
    The slow build-up, more than two weeks after the truce came into effect, has been derided by Assad's foes and intensified frustration in Western capitals, where leaders want firmer measures imposed on Damascus sooner rather than later.
    The presence of the monitors has emboldened many thousands of protesters to resume demonstrations after weeks of military crackdown, but activists say Assad's forces responded swiftly.
    Russia stepped criticism of anti-Assad militias on Saturday (April 28), following a seaborne attack by gunmen on a Syrian military unit stationed near the sea port of Latakia.
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