Syria signs preliminary agreement with observers

DAMASCUS - Syria and the UN observers signed on Thursday a preliminary agreement that regulates the the team's task to monitor the cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, according to Syria's foreign ministry.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, and Guha Abhijit, the deputy military adviser of the UN peacekeeping department, signed the preliminary agreement in Damascus.

A day earlier, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said his country welcomes the deployment of more observers to ensure that the UN-backed cease-fire holds. He said "the presence of 250 international observers is logical and possible."

Meanwhile, Syria's foreign ministry said in a statement following the signing ceremony that the agreement adds to the Syrian efforts to make UN special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan a success while respecting Syria's sovereignty.

The statement said the agreement also came in light of respecting the international laws that regulate such kinds of international missions.

The advance team of UN observers arrived in Damascus Sunday night and has toured several Syrian areas so far.

Their arrival came a day after the UN Security Council unanimously approved the observer mission. The advance team will be followed by other batches of observers and the total number of monitors may eventually reach 250.

Earlier, head of the team, Moroccan Colonel Ahmad Himmiche called on all sides to cooperate with the observers in order to fulfill the UN mission.  

"We try to accomplish our mission which was assigned by the UN in light of resolution 2048 completely in connection with the Syrian security forces and other sides," he told reporters.