UN mission has chance to break circle of violence in Syria
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E-mail Xinhua, May 3, 2012
The head of UN observer mission in Syria said Thursday his team has a chance to break the cycle of violence, stressing that the presence of monitors in Syria have a "calming effect."
Norwegian Major General Robert Mood told reporters after meeting with the governor of central Hama province that "we still have a good chance" to break the current cycle of violence and turn it around to a positive cycle.
Mood's remarks came amid his first tour to restive areas in central Syria since his arrival in the violence-hit country on April 29 to head a UN ceasefire observer mission aimed at bringing an early end to the 13-month crisis in the Middle East country.
A day earlier, Mood said that more than 100 international observers will arrive in Syria in the next days to monitor the crumbling ceasefire.
He charged that there are violations of the UN-backed ceasefire by both the government and the opposition, but added that the observers have a "calming effect" in areas they have been dispatched to, according to the Sky News TV.
The observers have been dispatched to the hotspots across Syria in central Hama, Homs, northern Idlib, and southern Daraa provinces.
They arrived two weeks ago to monitor the ceasefire that went into effect on April 12. However, despite their presence, violence has not abated effectively with daily reports of killings, kidnappings and bombings.
The ceasefire is part of the six-point plan put forward by UN- Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan, which calls mainly for halting violence from all sides to pave the way for political settlement to the 13-month-old unrest in Syria.
