UN orders immediate Syria cease-fire: 'The deadline is now'

[steve2470]

Source: MSNBC

Syrian President Bashar Assad must order a cease-fire immediately, a spokesman for UN chief Kofi Annan said Friday, telling reporters: "The deadline is now".

"We expect him to implement this plan immediately," Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Anna, told a news briefing in Geneva, adding that Assad should not wait for opposition groups to make the first move.

Annan's peace proposal calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from cities and towns, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists. It does not hinge on Assad leaving office.

"If you read the agreement...it specifically asks the government to withdraw its troops, to cease using heavy weapons in populated centers. The very clear implication here is that the government must stop first and then discuss a cessation of hostilities with the other side and with the mediator," Fawzi said.

Read more: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/30/10936527-un-orders-immediate-syria-cease-fire-the-deadline-is-now

[Fool Count]

1. "...the government must stop first and then discuss a cessation of hostilities with the other side."

Is this some kind of joke?

[dipsydoodle]

4. Huge joke

.

[AtopTheRacismNow]

2. UN -Joke

Since the 1970s.

[bemildred]

3. Right. nt

[pampango]

5. "...to cease using heavy weapons in populated centers ..."

Doesn't seem like that is asking too much. Hard to avoid "collateral damage", i.e. civilian casualties, when you are bombarding populated areas with artillery and tanks.