UNSC urges Syria to comply with ceasefire deadline

The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a presidential statement to voice its support for an April 10 deadline put forward by Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League joint special envoy for Syria, to end the year-long crisis in the Middle East country.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 17, 2012, shows Syrian fire fighters working at the scene of two bomb attacks on security buildings in the heart of the Syrian capital Damascus which killed several people, state television said. [Xinhua/AFP]

"The Security Council calls upon the Syrian government to implement urgently and visibly its commitment "to cease troop movements towards population centres, to cease all use of heavy weapons in such centres, and to begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres, and to fulfil these in their entirety by no later than 10 April 2012," the statement said.

The statement called on all parties to end the fighting within 48 hours of those actions.

"The Security Council further calls upon the opposition to engage with the Envoy (Annan) in this regard," the statement said.

"The Security Council reiterates its call for the Syrian authorities to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to al populations in need of assistance, in accordance with international law and guiding principles of humanitarian assistance," the statement said.

"The Security Council calls upon all parties in Syria, in particular the Syrian authorities, to cooperate fully with the United Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance," the statement said.

"To this end, the Security Council calls on all parties to immediately implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause as called for in the Envoy's six-point proposal," it said.

The presidential statement, the third of its kind since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in March last year, was drafted by the United States in cooperation with Britain, France and Germany, diplomats said.

A presidential statement, adopted by consensus, is not legally binding, and does not carry the weight of a Security Council resolution. The adoption of a council resolution requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members of the 15-nation council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The special envoy Annan also called on the the Syrian Government and opposition forces to cease violence by Thursday, 12 April, when briefing an informal meeting of the General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

"Upon completion by the Government of its commitments by Tuesday, 10 April, all parties should move immediately to cease all forms of violence, so that a complete cessation is in place by 0600 hours Damascus time on Thursday, 12 April," said Mr. Annan in a briefing, by video-link from Geneva, to an informal meeting of the General Assembly in New York.