Syrian cease-fire on verge of shattering

Added by on April 17, 2012

Six days into the Syrian cease-fire and the term does not appear to fit, according to anti-government protesters.

Shelling continued in the battered city of Homs and a federal government offensive in the northwest province of Idlib intensified, protesters stated, with just about 50 individuals killed, most of them in Idlib.

One activist, Khalid Mahmoud Qbiesho in Idlib, was reported killed when a tank rolled over his head, according to the Local Sychronisation Task forces, an anti-government group. Others were killed execution-style after intense shelling, activists stated.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described Tuesday’s violence as “sporadic,” but suggested a organized U.N. observer mission of 250 individuals could not be big enough “considering the existing scenario and looking at the vastness of the country.”

At the same time, in Paris, a conference of almost 60 “Friends of Syria” nations was held to reinforce sanctions against the Syrian federal government after more than a year of violence that the U.N. estimations has actually taken more than 9,000 lives.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe stated sanctions have actually thus far exhausted the Syrian government’s monetary reserves by half, The Associated Press reported. Juppe included that President Bashar Assad’s federal government was trying to steer around the sanctions.

Syrian authorities “continue to definitely seek alternate routes to obtain around these sanctions, others (nations) are essentially providing alternative packages. We must respond to these maneuvers,” Juppe said.

Syria’s foreign currency reserve was reportedly believed to have actually been around $ 17 billion last March when the uprising against Assad first began.