U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned a bomb blast Wednesday
near a convoy of U.N. observers that was entering the southern Syrian
city of Daraa.
"This attack is
unacceptable," Ban told reporters at the United Nations. "Today's
incident is an example of what the Syrian people have endured for the
past 15 months. It is a testament to the difficulty and the danger of
the task entrusted to our U.N. observers and it is a blunt reminder of
the risks of violence escalating even further.
"There is no escaping the
reality that we see every day: innocent civilians dying, government
troops and heavy armor in city streets, growing numbers of arrests and
allegations of brutal torture, an alarming surge in the use of IEDs and
other explosive devices."
The bomb exploded near
the convoy carrying U.N. observers and the head of the monitoring team
in southern Syria. There were no casualties among the observers, but the
Syrian government said 10 Syrian soldiers were wounded, according to a
statement released on behalf of Ban. The observers were heading from
Damascus to Daraa under Syrian army escort.
Ban called on government
forces "and all elements of the opposition" to stop the violence. "If
this opportunity is not seized, I fear that what joint special envoy
Kofi Annan has warned about will come to pass: a full-scale civil war
with catastrophic effects within Syria and across the region."
Annan is working on behalf of the United Nations and the Arab League to end the fighting.
Ban said it is imperative for the international community to support Annan's efforts.
"This was a graphic
example of what the Syrian people are suffering on a daily basis and
underlines the imperative for all forms of violence to stop," Maj. Gen.
Robert Mood, head of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria and chief
military observer, said in a written statement.
A "recent increase" in
bombings and persistent violence "call into question the commitment of
the parties to the cessation of violence and may have a direct impact on
the future of the mission," the statement said.
The purpose of the observer mission is to monitor the status of the cease-fire and Annan's six-point peace plan.
Pro-government news
agency Addounia TV, which had a crew in the convoy, said the blast
damaged cars and a state-run Syrian TV photographer was "lightly
injured."
"The explosion directly targeted the guards," Addounia TV said.
Sham News, a network of
opposition activists who post information and videos on the Internet,
said the blast occurred in the Manshiya neighborhood of Daraa when a
military Jeep stormed the city and fired shots resulting in injuries. It
said opposition Free Syrian Army forces "targeted the car and exploded"
the vehicle.
"We deny that any of the people in the car were members of the international mission," Sham News said.
CNN cannot independently
verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria as the government
has restricted access by most of the international media.
Despite months of
international sanctions, diplomacy and pressure on President Bashar
al-Assad's regime, world leaders say an end to the bloodshed may still
be far away.
Annan plans to return
soon to Damascus to seek adherence to the cease-fire, which was supposed
to go into effect April 12. He reiterated that the killing must stop
immediately.
"There has been some
decrease in the military activities, but there are still serious
violations in the cessation of violence that was agreed," Annan told
reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council.
The Local Coordination
Committees of Syria, an opposition network, said Wednesday that 1,025
Syrians have been killed since Annan's initiative. The dead include 42
women, 60 children (40 boys, 20 girls), 22 people who died under
torture.
The U.N. observer
mission comprises 113 personnel from 38 countries, including 70 military
observers and 43 civilian staff members and is mandated to have 300
military observers and about 100 additional civilian staffers. It has
been operating in Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, Aleppo and Daraa. It is
regularly receiving new members and expanding.
"In the next two days, we will cross the 100 mark for military observers in the mission," Mood said.
At least 20 people were
killed Wednesday in Syria, the LCC said. The deaths occurred in Homs,
Hama, Idlib, Deir Ezzor, Aleppo and the Damascus suburbs.
Susan Rice, the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, said the United States maintains its
position that al-Assad has lost all legitimacy and must step down. If
the violence persists, she said, the Obama administration is ready to
look at other means to ratchet up pressure on Damascus, including a
renewed discussion in the Security Council.
On Monday, Ban said the
Syrian situation has become one of the "most serious and gravest
concerns of the international community."
"More than 9,000 people
have been killed during the last 14 months. This is totally unacceptable
and an intolerable situation," Ban said.
The Syrian ambassador to
the United Nations again blamed the violence on armed perpetrators that
he claimed were supported and financed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
and other nations.
"We are still committed
toward guaranteeing the maximum success to the mission of Kofi Annan,"
Bashar Jaafari said at a news conference Tuesday. "But the Syrian
government cannot do all the job alone."
He said the international community is hypocritical by not acting against terrorists in Syria as they do against al Qaeda.
Rice said no one could say with certainty that there are no foreign fighters in Syria. But she said that's not the key issue.
"This is substantially a
diversion from the main point," Rice said. "The main point is that the
government of Syria continues to kill its own people."
Many nations, including
Syria's Arab neighbors, have condemned the ongoing violence, which has
pitted a minority Alawite-dominated government against a predominantly
Sunni uprising.
International leaders
have said the Syrian government is targeting dissidents seeking
democracy and the ouster of al-Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for
42 years.
The LCC says more than 11,000 people have been killed in 14 months.
Source: CNN News