United Nations monitors visited Homs province Saturday (April 21st) ahead of an expected Security Council vote on deploying hundreds of observers across Syria to monitor the ceasefire, AFP reported.
The seven-member advance team of monitors were able to tour different districts of the city of Homs, including Baba Amr, and meet the governor of the province.
The visit came as the opposition Syrian National Council claimed that Homs neighbourhoods were being shelled, although an activist in the city said the situation was calm.
Also on Saturday, in New York, diplomats said the UN Security Council has reached a tentative accord on a resolution to send a 300-strong ceasefire observer force to Syria, which could be voted on later on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in the town of Qusayr, a sniper shot a woman dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The organisation also reported a huge blast at a military airport in the Damascus district of Mezze.
Mezze, an upscale district which houses many government offices and embassies, is a Damascus neighbourhood that has been hit by violence.
Activists told AFP that the army blocked the road leading to the military airbase while snipers took positions on the rooftops of buildings in the area.
Elsewhere, an "armed terrorist group" on Saturday blew up a section of an oil pipeline in the Deir ez-Zor region of northeast Syria, Syria's official news agency (SANA) reported.
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READER COMMENTS
شامل هيوا
2012-4-22
There are a lot of suggestions which I would like to put forward to solve the problem of the Syrian people, including: First, the Arab governments or Arab League can adopt a peaceful option that is a safe exit for Bashar al-Assad and his family and those who follow him, and leave the Syrian people to decide their own destiny through fair, democratic elections and a constitution that guarantees freedom for all individuals and sects of the Syrian people, provided that the President and his family would exit to any Arab or foreign country of his choice that would agree to host them. Also, the Arab governments can propose to Bashar al-Assad an urgent plan aimed at setting a new constitution for the country and holding free and fair elections to satisfy the Syrian people under international supervision for the selection of Governor (President) as well as the Council of Representatives and a constitutional referendum with the promise to dissolve and dismantle all existing institutions gradually to be restructured again, such as the army, police and the administrative system of the state, provided that all this should happen in the presence of an Arab international supervision intended for follow up and counseling under the Council of the national forces chosen by the people or agree to lead the transition period shared with the current administration of the State of Syria. There is also a military option which is bringing Arab troops to impose peace in Syria and for the international community to support it, so that the Syrian people could have safe havens from the brutality of the gangs of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who take revenge on the people.
باقر محمد
2012-4-22
The response by Bashar al-Assad is a criminal, violent and very harsh gesture against humans and humanity, conscience and morality. It is the right of human beings to be respected and appreciated, and no one should insult a human or treat him like an animal. It indicated the extent of brutality and cruelty, which he uses in order to remain the ruler of government first and foremost. The ruler has to step away, so that someone better than him can come in and will be chosen by the people. Thus, the brutal and criminal way in which Bashar al-Assad faces all the Syrian people is a great crime and cannot be tolerated no matter what happens, and it is extreme crime, injustice and oppression. Therefore, Bashar al-Assad has to step down immediately and should not continue his unethical actions, which show a grotesque tyranny and dictatorship, and should leave space for someone else to provide all the services and comfort for the people of Syria.
مصطفى رجب
2012-4-22
The Syrian Revolution is only an evidence of the extent of the injustice against the Syrian people, and the revolution has had a very significant effect on the government, which prevailed in its injustice, dictatorship, ugliness, cruelty, violence, negligence and carelessness to them. Therefore, the revolution is the result of a lot of negative reasons that prompted a lot of people to go out to the street in order to claim their rights, justice, humanity, conscience, compassion and service, as all these things are rights that anyone can ask from them, and this, of course, was a proof of true democracy, which must be exercised by any Arab citizen who feels injustice, neglect and lack in terms of the provision of services, which are very necessary for them and their daily lives in order to continue to live and endure in a natural way that does not exceed the required or permitted threshold. But what happened is that the Syrian people have endured more than their energy and demanded their legitimate rights; no more, no less. The revolution was marked by the wisdom of Aleppo, the patience of Damascus and the courage of many of the Syrian areas that are now experiencing the most violent and continuous subsequent attacks against their people, and all this because they demanded their legitimate rights; no more, no less. Thus, I expect the revolution of Syria to continue and achieve the best results, God willing, and the Syrian people to remain steadfast and determined to take the decision which they agreed to give against the unjust and dictator government, which has neglected their rights.