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UN Syria observers could be forced to abandon mission
Comments by UN commander in Syria General Robert Mood suggest escalating violence is putting his mission at risk
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...missio-008.jpg The head of the UN mission in Syria, General Robert Mood, speaks to reporters in Damascus. Photograph: Youssef Badawi/EPA
UN monitors could be forced to abandon their mission in Syria in the face of escalating violence in the conflict between the regime and rebels, its commander signalled on Friday on another day of bloodshed and protests across the country.
The comments by General Robert Mood, the Norwegian who commands the 300-strong UN observer team, were further evidence of the collapse of the peace plan promoted by Kofi Annan on behalf of the UN and Arab League. In a week that has seen repeated warnings that Syria is in an open civil war there is still no alternative international initiative on offer.
Meanwhile the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, was described by a senior Arab official in close touch with Damascus as "losing contact with reality", according to members of his own inner circle, and dependent on Russian financial aid.
The Syrian crisis is expected to be discussed in talks between the US president, Barack Obama, and Russia's Vladimir Putin on the margins of the G20 summit on Monday, diplomats said. Russia is seen as the only outside power capable of influencing Assad, its long-standing ally.
Tensions rose this week when the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, accused Russia of escalating the conflict by supplying attack helicopters to Syria. But it transpired that the aircraft had been refurbished in Russia and were being sent back. The two countries are also at odds over whether Iran, Assad's ally, should be part of efforts to bring peace to Syria.
US-Russian differences were again highlighted on Friday when Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, denied holding any talks with the US on a post-Assad Syria. "We aren't dealing with a regime change either through approving unilateral actions at the United Nations security council nor through taking part in some political conspiracies," Lavrov said.
Syria is also on the agenda for a meeting in London on Saturday between David Cameron and King Abdullah of Jordan.
Assad's forces and their opponents are both ignoring a ceasefire that was supposed to have taken effect on 12 April. On Friday the regime kept up an offensive against Homs and other rebel areas.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition network, reported 29 people killed in Deir Ezzor, Deraa, the Damascus region, Homs and Aleppo. Sana, the state news agency, reported the arrest of a man who it said had confessed to plans to blow himself up at a Damascus mosque.
One video from Idlib showed hundreds of demonstrators shouting slogans against the regime as some held opposition flags and a sign reading "Death to Russia".
Mood said: "The attacks by the armed opposition on official buildings and government checkpoints are becoming more effective and the government is taking great losses. Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying by both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights urged the UN monitors to end the violence or leave the country. "The role of the international observers has become that of a witness to murder," the UK-based watchdog said. On Thursday at least 84 people died in clashes and bombings across Syria, 48 of them civilians, it said. An estimated 14-15,000 people have been killed in Syria in the last 15 months.