China offers to send monitors to Syria
- 12 years ago
Amateur video uploaded to a social media website Friday purports to show heavy shelling and explosions in the Syrian city of Homs.
The video, which Reuters cannot independently verify, was purportedly shot in the neighborhoods of al-Khalidiya and Hamidiya.
It emerged a day after Syria and the United Nations signed a preliminary agreement laying out the responsibility of the government and opposition groups for maintaining a ceasefire. U.N. monitors are set to oversee the agreement.
In a news conference on Friday China stated its support for the agreement.
(SOUNDBITE)(Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU WEIMIN SAYING:
"China supports the United Nations sending a monitoring group and an advanced team to Syria and we are willing to send personnel to take part in the work of this team and the advanced team. We are now in consultation with the United Nations secretariat about the specific arrangements."
The full team of 30 ceasefire monitors will be deployed in Syria in the coming week. Three hundred more observers are being prepared pending approval by the U.N. security council next week.
Sarah Wali, Reuters.
The video, which Reuters cannot independently verify, was purportedly shot in the neighborhoods of al-Khalidiya and Hamidiya.
It emerged a day after Syria and the United Nations signed a preliminary agreement laying out the responsibility of the government and opposition groups for maintaining a ceasefire. U.N. monitors are set to oversee the agreement.
In a news conference on Friday China stated its support for the agreement.
(SOUNDBITE)(Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU WEIMIN SAYING:
"China supports the United Nations sending a monitoring group and an advanced team to Syria and we are willing to send personnel to take part in the work of this team and the advanced team. We are now in consultation with the United Nations secretariat about the specific arrangements."
The full team of 30 ceasefire monitors will be deployed in Syria in the coming week. Three hundred more observers are being prepared pending approval by the U.N. security council next week.
Sarah Wali, Reuters.