SYRIA: A team of United Nations observers leaves for the town of Douma, days after a roadside bomb exploded near a U.N. convoy carrying the leader of a Syria ceasefire monitoring mission and a senior U.N. official

Record ID: 280856

  • Title: SYRIA: A team of United Nations observers leaves for the town of Douma, days after a roadside bomb exploded near a U.N. convoy carrying the leader of a Syria ceasefire monitoring mission and a senior U.N. official
  • Date: 24th May 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MAY 23, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF DAMA ROSE HOTEL SYRIAN FLAGS VARIOUS OF U.N. OBSERVERS WALKING TOWARDS VEHICLES OBSERVER ADJUSTING HIS HEADGEAR, GETTING INTO CAR OBSERVER IN CAR OBSERVERS STANDING BY VEHICLE U.N. FLAG VARIOUS OF OBSERVERS STANDING NEXT TO CARS U.N. VEHICLES PARKED IN LINE VARIOUS OF THE OBSERVERS LEAVING IN U.N. VEHICLES
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA44PNU1TOGSGH54W59MC96U3DR
  • Story Text: A team of United Nations observers travelled to the town of Douma on Wednesday (May 23) for an afternoon patrol, where a bomb exploded near a U.N. convoy days before.
    Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, is a focus of an armed uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad which started with peaceful pro-democracy protests in March 2011.
    On Sunday a roadside bomb exploded 150 meters (yards) from a U.N. convoy carrying the head of a Syria ceasefire monitoring mission and a senior U.N. official in Douma. There were no reports of casualties.
    Hundreds of civilian and military U.N. ceasefire observers are in Syria on a mission that aims to bring an end to a 14-month bloodshed by disengaging opposing armed forces, launching political dialogue and ensuring free access to Syria for humanitarian aid and journalists.
    However government forces have been widely condemned for their repression of the uprising but both sides have regularly violated the ceasefire.
    Earlier on Wednesday another group of U.N. observers visited Tichreen hospital, where they met with its director and a number of Syrian security personnel who were injured in previous violence.
    Elsewhere monitors in Hama met with the city's governor, Anas Naem, and discussed coordination techniques that could help increase the number of observers in the region.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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