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CHIEF MONITOR SAYS U.N. SYRIA TEAM WAS TARGETED-ENVOYS

By Louis Charbonneau
June 20, 20121:40 AM GMT+2Updated 13 years ago
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Norwegian Major-General Robert Mood, chief of the United Nations Supervision
Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), speaks at a special session with journalists in
Damascus June 15, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new
tab
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The chief U.N. monitor for Syria told the Security
Council on Tuesday that his military observers were repeatedly targeted by
hostile crowds and gunfire at close range last week before his decision to
suspend the mission's operations.
General Robert Mood of Norway told the 15-nation council behind closed doors
that his 300-strong unarmed observer force was targeted with gunfire or by
hostile crowds at least 10 times last week, U.N. diplomats present at the
meeting told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
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Mood said that "indirect fire" incidents in which gunfire struck within 300 to
400 metres (yards) of observers occurred on a daily basis, envoys said. Last
week, nine vehicles of the observer mission, known as UNSMIS, were struck or
damaged, they added.
One diplomat said Mood spoke of "several hundred indirect fire incidents."
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said last week that after 15 months of
fighting between government forces and what began as a peaceful opposition
demanding reforms and the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria was now in
the throes of a full-scale civil war.
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Days after Ladsous made that announcement in an interview with Reuters and AFP,
Mood declared that UNSMIS had suspended operations. It was the clearest sign yet
that a peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan has collapsed.
After the council meeting, Mood was asked by reporters why he suspended the
mission's operations. "I made that decision based on the risks on the ground and
based on the fact that the risks made it difficult to implement mandated tasks,"
he said.

He said UNSMIS would only resume full operations if there were a significant
reduction in the level of violence and both the opposition and government voiced
their commitment to the observers' safety and freedom of movement.
"The government has expressed that very clearly in the last couple of days," he
said. "I have not seen the same clear statement from the opposition yet."
THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari blamed the escalation of violence on "armed
groups" and "terrorists" and reiterated Damascus' commitment to Annan's peace
plan. He also rejected Ladsous' remarks that Syria was now in an all-out civil
war.

"The only way to push forward is to guarantee the success of the six-point plan
of Mr. Kofi Annan," he said.
Ladsous also addressed the council and emphasized that the situation on the
ground was too dangerous to allow the monitors to conduct normal patrols.
"Mood and Ladsous basically said that violence is escalating and that conditions
are not met at present to allow the mission to run normally (and) safely
enough," a diplomat said.

Ladsous told reporters that UNSMIS had suspended "most activities of the
mission" due to what he described as "extremely serious security concerns."
Some Western diplomats have suggested that there was little point in having
UNSMIS remain in Syria when Assad's government has not only ignored former U.N.
chief Annan's peace plan but has stepped up its military assaults to seize
rebel-held territory.
The rebels have said they no longer felt bound by an April 12 truce that Annan
brokered but which never took hold. The opposition has also stepped up its
military operations, contributing to an overall escalation in the violence.
Ladsous said UNSMIS' 90-day mandate expires on July 20. He declined to say
whether he expected the council to extend it.
"We shall see in due course before July 20 what the Security Council's decision
is on that," he said.
He added that the United Nations remained committed to Annan's peace plan, which
he said was the only peace proposal under consideration at the moment.
"There's no other game in town," Ladsous said. "There's no plan B."

Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Christopher Wilson and
Peter Cooney

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