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Urgent sending of UN observers to Syria vital for ceasefire

Muallem said that Syria welcomed the possible participation of Russia in the international observation mission

MOSCOW, April 13 (Itar-Tass) —— The urgent sending of UN observers to Syria is vital for the provision of ceasefire, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Friday.

“The urgent sending of UN observers to Syria is vital for ceasefire in Syria,” he microblogged on the Twitter. “That will require a brief resolution of the UN Security Council. Russia has proposed elements of that decision.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held negotiations with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in Moscow earlier in the week. Lavrov said that Russia had agreed to send its observers from the contingent deployed on the Golan Heights to Syria.

“The UN Secretariat requested Russia and some other countries to send their citizens from the contingent deployed on the Golan Heights to Syria within an observation mission. We gave our consent,” Lavrov said.

Muallem said that Syria welcomed the possible participation of Russia in the international observation mission.

The UN Security Council may adopt a resolution on Friday to start the immediate deployment of the first team of UN observers in Syria. The draft resolution submitted by Western states on Thursday says that up to 30 unarmed observers must establish liaison with the sides and report on their fulfillment of the ceasefire agreement.

The draft resolution demands from the Syrian government to ensure conditions for the efficient work of the UN observers. It is bound to assist the deployment of the group, to ensure its free traveling around the Syrian territory, to guarantee its security and liaison between mission members and between the mission and the UN New York headquarters.

The draft resolution expressed the intention of the UN Security Council to immediately open a full UN mission in the case of the end of violence by all the sides to the armed conflict for monitoring the fulfillment of the ceasefire accord and to assist the fulfillment of the six-item settlement plan of UN/LAS Envoy Kofi Annan.