Annan: Syria conflict must end at 6 a.m. April 12

U.N. Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said the Syrian army and rebels in a year-long conflict that has killed thousands must end all violence by 6 a.m. Syrian time April 12 if the government meets its agreed deadline to halt fighting two days earlier.    

"I urge the government and the opposition commanders to issue clear instructions so that the message reaches across the country, down to the fighter and soldier at the local level," Annan told the U.N. General Assembly.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, for his part, that violence in Syria against civilians had not stopped and the year-long conflict that has already killed thousands was getting worse.    

"Despite the Syrian government's acceptance of the joint special envoy's (Kofi Annan's) plan of initial proposals to resolve the crisis, the violence and assaults in civilian areas have not stopped. The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate," Ban told the U.N. General Assembly.

Ban added that the Syrian opposition should stop violence in compliance with Annan’s plan, underscoring the need to promote dialogue in Syria. I

t was earlier reported that U.N. Security Council agreed to a statement calling upon Syria to comply with an April 10 deadline to halt fighting and withdraw its forces from Syrian population centers.    

U.N. Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the council on Monday that the Syrian government had accepted the deadline, and that he would push for an end of rebel operations within 48 hours after the government stops fighting. Annan had asked the council to support the deadline.

Meanwhile, Syria has agreed to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to expand its work in the country and seek a pause in the fighting when needed to evacuate the wounded, the agency said.    

"This means that we will have to rapidly build up our human resources and logistical capacity in Syria," ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said in a statement issued at the end of his visit to Damascus, where he met several ministers.   

ICRC officials would resume visits to detention centers, stalled since September, with a visit planned to detainees in custody at Aleppo central prison, the statement said.    

Syrian officials and Kellenberger also reached an agreement on a procedure under which the agency could request a humanitarian pause in the fighting in an area so as to evacuate the wounded and bring in supplies, spokesman Hicham Hassan.

Reuters/LBCI