Syrian army not withdraw heavy weapons

Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for the UN envoy and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, to Syria, said that the Syrian army did not withdraw heavy weapons from the cities as required by the Annan plan for a negotiated solution to the conflict. The plan of former UN secretary general wants the factions to commit themselves to respect a ceasefire to start negotiations between the government of President Bashar al Assad, and opposition movements. Fawzi has further alleged that Syrian security forces intimidated and in some cases may have killed people who had contact with UN observers deployed in the country. Nearly 60 people were reported killed in violence across Syria on Monday despite a hard-won ceasefire and the upcoming deployment of 300 UN observers to monitor the truce, a watchdog said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday a total 54 civilians and five soldiers were killed in various provinces.  Thirty-one of the civilians died in a government assault on the Arbaeen neighbourhood in the central city of Hama and 13 others, including women and children, died blast in the village of Jarjanaz, in northwest Idlib province. A total of eleven UN observers already deployed in Syria thanks to a cease-fire that should have begun on April 12, but is "extremely fragile," said Fawzi. "They are going into areas where conflicts have occurred as Homs and Hama and when they go, no noise of weapons," he stated. US President Barack Obama ordered sanctions and visa bans for companies and individuals providing technological know-how, computers or other equipment that help Syria and its main regional ally Iran oppress their people.