Syria’s cease-fire appears shaky
BEIRUT — Syria’s 4-day-old cease-fire appeared to be quickly eroding Sunday. Regime forces fired dozens of tank shells and mortar rounds in the opposition stronghold of Homs.
The attacks came hours before the arrival of the first team of United Nations cease-fire monitors.
Even though the overall level of violence has dropped, escalating regime attacks over the weekend raised new doubts about President Bashar Assad’s commitment to a plan by special envoy Kofi Annan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on Syria’s political future.
Assad has halted shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods, with the exception of Homs, and ignored calls to pull troops out of urban centers. Rebel fighters have also kept up attacks, including shooting ambushes.
U.N. observers said they hope to stabilize the cease-fire, which formally took effect Thursday. A six-member advance team headed to Damascus on Sunday, a day after a unanimous U.N. Security Council approved the mission.
A larger team of 250 observers requires more talks between the U.N. and the Syrian government next week. The Security Council demanded freedom of movement for the U.N. team.
“This will be a serious catand-mouse game between the government and the U.N. for weeks to come,” George Lopez, a professor of peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said of the new observer mission. Buying time is in As- sad’s interest, he said.
The city of Homs was the main flash point of violence again Sunday. The city had been battered by daily regime shelling for three weeks before the cease-fire, and shelling resumed late Friday, residents said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two men and a woman were killed by shelling in Homs on Sunday and three more bodies were found in the city.
Many remain skeptical about Assad’s intentions.
“It appears that Assad will be able to finesse the situation by agreeing to cease-fires, using the period before the cease-fire takes effect to pummel the opposition strongholds, and then stonewall on negotiations once they begin,” said William Keylor of Boston University.