warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Syrian Troops Will Not Withdraw Despite Agreement To Peace Plan

Cara Palmer |
March 31, 2012 | 11:14 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

(Victoria Pickering, Creative Commons)
(Victoria Pickering, Creative Commons)
As another two dozen people were killed in Syria Saturday, a government official said that troops will not be withdrawn from cities still “engulfed by the country’s unrest” until peace returns to those cities, the Associated Press reports.

The U.N. Envoy to the Arab League Kofi Annan recently asked Syrian authorities “to stop military activities as ‘the stronger party’ in a ‘gesture of good faith’ to the lightly armed opposition.”

The renewed violence comes after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted Annan’s peace plan, of which some of the main points constitute “a two-hour halt in fighting every day to allow humanitarian access and medical evaluations,” as well as the immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops and heavy weapons from cities and towns. The 6 points of the proposed and agreed-to peace plan are as follows:

1. Commitment to an inclusive, Syrian-led political process working with the UN envoy.

2. A cease-fire including the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from inside and around populated areas.

3. Provision of humanitarian aid through a UN mechanism.

4. Release of arbitrarily detained persons.

5. Freedom of movement across Syria for journalists.

6. Respect for freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully.

A Syrian official Friday stated, however, that the military resides “only in populated areas ‘in a state of self defense and protecting civilians,’” according to the Associated Press. Makdessi continued:

“The Syrian army is not happy to be present in residential areas. Once peace an security prevail in these areas, the army will not stay nor wait for Kofi Annan to leave. This is a Syrian matter.”

He declared that Syria has been victorious over the opposition to the government, opposition that began a year ago with an uprising of peaceful protests, and is now in the process of “reinforcing stability,” hence the recent violence.

New U.N. estimates indicate that more than 9,000 people have been killed in the year since the beginning of the uprising against Assad’s rule. Annan’s spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, stated Friday:

“The government must stop first and then discuss a cessation of hostilities with the other side. We are appealing to the stronger party to make a gesture of good faith…The deadline is now.”

 

Reach Executive Producer Cara Palmer here or follow her on Twitter.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.