Annan Sets April 10 Deadline For Syria Plan
UN and the Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has set April 10 as deadline for full implementation of his plan to end the crisis in Syria, it was learned Monday from diplomatic sources at the UN. The source said Kofi Annan wants to give the regime of President Bashar al-Assad a little bit more time to stop the violence.
The Annan plan includes six points among them an immediate suspension of the fighting for two hours each day to allow passage of humanitarian aid. It also calls for the immediate withdrawal of troops and heavy equipment deployed by the Syrian army from populated areas and a general cease-fire in order to negotiate a political solution to the crisis.
The United States is skeptical about the willingness of the Syrian regime to start implementing the Annan plan, said Monday the press officer of the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice. “We have seen promises made and then broken by the Syrian regime and the experience would lead us rather to be skeptical,” said Ms. Rice. She added that Washington feared an escalation of violence in the coming days.
