UN Security Council approves team of 300 cease-fire observers in Syria
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used a letter to the Security Council to advocate for the approval of an expanded mission of 300 observers to Syria for an initial three-month period. The Secretary also warned that Syria hadn’t fully complied with the truce.
The United Nations Security Council voted on Saturday to allow 300 cease-fire observers to enter Syria to monitor a fragile 'truce' between the government and rebels.
The observers will be sent as soon as the UN Secretary General believes it is safe for the observers to go, said the Wall Street Journal.
The resolution sees an increase in the number of observers that were approved in another resolution last weekend that said 30 observers would be sent when the conditions are right.
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"The Secretary-General calls upon the Government of Syria and other parties swiftly to create the conditions necessary for the deployment of the mission,” a statement from Ban’s office said, according to the Washington Post.
“He stresses the need for the Government of Syria to end all violence and human rights violations, and in particular to stop the use of heavy weapons and to withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centres.”
The resolution comes on the heels of the arrival of a small group of UN cease-fire monitors in the war torn Syrian city of Homs Saturday.
The Associated Press reported that a group of blue-helmeted UN observers entered the city of Homs, which was unusually calm except for the sound of sporadic gunfire.
Syrian tanks and armored vehicles had been pulled off the streets for the visit.
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