Major international powers meeting in Paris on Thursday called a U.N.-backed peace plan the "last hope" to resolve the Syrian crisis and said they would do all they could to help it succeed, according to draft conclusions obtained by Reuters.
"Every day that passes means tens of new Syrian civilian deaths," the statement said. "It is not time to prevaricate. It is time to act. Though fragile, the (Kofi) Annan mission represents a last hope."
The meeting resolved that the "Friends of Syria" - which include France, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Qatar - would do everything to ensure the Arab League-U.N. plan succeeded. "If this were not to happen ... the U.N. Security Council and international community would have to look at other options," the statement said.
The group said it wanted the U.N. observers in Syria to be given all the "necessary means" to complete their mission including having all modern equipment that would enable them to ensure efficient surveillance.
The 14 nations said they were concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation and its impact on neighbouring countries and were committed to providing humanitarian aid in all forms.
U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan's deputy earlier told the Security Council that the swift deployment of more observers to Syria was needed despite continued risks and persistent violence, council diplomats told Reuters.
Jean-Marie Guehenno told the 15-nation council in New York that deploying more unarmed military observers "would have a potential to change the political dynamics on the ground," a diplomat said on condition of anonymity. Another envoy confirmed the remarks.
Syria and the United Nations signed an agreement on the terms of a ceasefire monitoring mission, a Reuters witness at the Foreign Ministry in Damascus said.
A statement from the U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan said the Syrian government and the United Nations had agreed a basis for a "protocol" on the deployment of more observers.
Earlier today, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppee said that a United Nations observer mission in Syria would require between 300 and 400 people to oversee the country properly, more than the 250 observers the Syrian government says is reasonable.
Juppe, speaking shortly before the "Friends of Syria" meeting, said the group would discuss contingency plans for a potential unraveling of a UN-backed peace plan.
"If it is not possible (to implement the plan) then we will look at what new measures need to be taken," Juppe told a media briefing ahead of the talks with delegations from 14 countries including the United States, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
China said on Thursday it was considering sending observers to monitor a week-old truce in Syria that has so far failed to put an end to a year of bloodshed.
China is "seriously studying" the idea, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a daily news briefing.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said an expanded U.N. monitoring mission for Syria would be composed of "an initial deployment" of up to 300 unarmed observers who would supervise a fragile week-old ceasefire between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and opposition fighters seeking to oust him.
Syria has not fully complied with its obligations to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from towns and has yet to send a "clear signal" about its commitment to peace, the U.N. chief told the Security Council in a letter obtained by Reuters.
But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said 250 observers was a "reasonable number", adding they should be from countries such as China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa, which Damascus considers are more sympathetic than nations in the West or the Arab League.
On another note, a Syrian activist group says clashes between troops and army defectors in an eastern city have left at least one person dead.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Thursday's clashes in Deir el-Zour also wounded three civilians.
Activists say Syrian troops also shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs and the nearby town of Qusair, which borders Lebanon.
The Observatory says intense shooting and explosions could be heard in Homs' Qarabees and Jouret el-Shayah neighborhoods.
AP/Reuters