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UN observer mission "very important" to Syrian people: envoy

20 June 2012 03:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Syria said here Tuesday that the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) is "very important" to the people of Syria, a Middle East country which has been plagued by a 16-month crisis, and the Syrian government " attaches great importance to the mission", APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The statement came as Bashar Ja’afari, the Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations, was speaking to reporters here after Major General Robert Mood, the head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), and the UN Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, briefed the UN Security Council on the latest development in Syria.

"This mission is very important to the security and safety to the Syrian people," he said. "Syria attaches great importance to the UN mission."

The Security Council established UNSMIS in April to monitor the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitor and support the full implementation of a six-point peace plan put forward by the joint special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan.

The plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago.

Some are blaming the failure of the UN mission, but "we are protecting the security and safety of the mission," he said, adding that attacks on the unarmed UN observers are meant to " embarrass the Syrian government."

Mood announced that UN observers had suspended their monitoring activities owing to an intensification of armed violence across the country in recent days.

The UN mission halted its monitoring work after several attacks on the UN convoys.

On Sunday, Mood, who is from Norway, has appealed to the parties to enable civilians trapped by the escalating violence to leave conflict zones.

"We are a sovereign state, so our national security is also important," the Syrian ambassador said.

The 16-month violence in Syria continued unabated on Tuesday across the unrest-ridden Middle East country, a snub to all political efforts aiming to solve the crisis politically at a time when the Security Council is holding consultations on Syria to assess the situation after the suspension of the UN Supervision Mission’s operations.

The violence rate has notably increased over the past month across Syria with armed rebels and government troops clashing on daily bases, dealing a blow to the six-point peace plan brokered by Annan.

Both the government and the opposition trade barbs over who is responsible for the unrelenting violence.

"It’s a great pity that we haven’t achieved even the first item of Mr. Kofi Annan’s six-point plan," Ja’afari said.

The six-point plan, which is also widely backed by the international community and accepted by the Syrian government, calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and opposition.