7:17PM BST 12 Apr 2012
...Residents of Syria's major cities (click title to entry - thank you) reported a downturn in violence as a ceasefire came into effect on Thursday morning, though there were sporadic outbreaks which both sides blamed on each other.
But Mr Annan backed the major activist groups who claimed the regime had failed to honour its promise to withdraw troops and tanks from towns and cities. He told the UN security council by video from Geneva that he wanted it to authorise its own monitoring mission to supervise the ceasefire
He also challenged the council, including the regime's key allies Russia and China, to issue a formal demand that it comply with the demand to withdraw troops
Russia said it would back the monitoring mission, which has also been agreed by Syria and is likely to be approved by a security council resolution on Friday. The first team of observers might leave by the weekend, according to reports...
