SYRIA: U.N. observers embark on mission to Douma, at one point known as opposition stronghold but now back under government control

Record ID: 280845

  • Title: SYRIA: U.N. observers embark on mission to Douma, at one point known as opposition stronghold but now back under government control
  • Date: 21st May 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MAY 20, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF UNSMIS CHIEF ROBERT MOOD WAITING FOR THE ELEVATOR DEPUTY OF UN-ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY KOFI ANNAN, JEAN-MARIE GUEHENNO AND U.N. UNDER SECRETARY GENERAL FOR PEACEKEEPING HERVE LADSOUS WAITING FOR THE ELEVATOR VARIOUS OF GUEHENNO CAMERAMEN MOOD GETTING OUT OF THE ELEVATOR AND SAYING: "EXCELLENT AS ALWAYS" MOOD GETTING IN AN
  • Embargoed: 5th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKHQ4CR3OFODST00RAD3C93MS
  • Story Text: Members of the U.N. observers mission in Syria, headed by UNSMIS Chief, Major General Robert Mood, left their hotel on Sunday (May 20) going to the town of Douma, once known as a stronghold of the opposition but now back under government control.
    Mood said his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem was "excellent as always".
    Mood, Military Adviser of UN Secretary General Babacar Gaye and U.N. Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem in Damascus on Sunday (May 20).
    Ladsous said on Saturday (May 19) that the Syrian peace mission was making headway.
    He spoke the same day car bomb in Deir al-Zor exploded, killing nine and wounding about 100, according to the official Syrian SANA news agency.
    There are currently 257 unarmed U.N. observers in Syria to monitor a five-week-old truce brokered by Annan. That number is expected to increase to 300 by the end of May.
    The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 800 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in violence since the ceasefire was declared on April 25.
    On Thursday Syria sent a letter to the United Nations saying members of al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood were using border areas of neighbouring Lebanon - where Syria has long influenced the security apparatus - to arm Syrian rebels.
    It pointed the finger at a Sunni Muslim political movement led by Saad al-Hariri, son of assassinated former minister Rafik al-Hariri, and at Lebanese Sunni Muslim Salafist groups.
    Members of Syria's main opposition grouping, the Syrian National Congress, have accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of orchestrating the bomb attacks in order to discredit them and flesh out his account of a foreign conspiracy.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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