Syria's opposition has called for major protests, as skirmishes between troops and rebels tested a shaky ceasefire to end a 13-month crackdown on dissent that has killed thousands.
Syria's opposition has called for major protests on Friday, as skirmishes between troops and rebels tested a shaky cease fire to end a 13-month crackdown on dissent that has killed thousands.
As the hard-won cease fire appeared to be holding for a second day, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he did not expect it to last as he questioned President Bashar al-Assad's sincerity and appealed for observers to be deployed to report the situation.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported limited clashes broke out Friday between the army and rebel fighters at Khirbet al-Joz, on the northern border with Turkey, after the military deployed troops and tanks to the area.
Violence on Thursday killed at least 10 people, including seven civilians, and wounded dozens more, said the Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group.
Among the dead were two soldiers killed by rebels after forces loyal to Assad attempted to break up a demonstration in the central province of Hama.
Even so, the toll is markedly lower than it has been in recent weeks, when there have often been scores of people killed.
After the cease fire came into force at dawn Thursday, peace envoy Kofi Annan declared he was "encouraged by reports that the situation in Syria is relatively calm and that the cessation of hostilities appears to be holding."
But as Assad's government and the rebels traded accusations of trying to wreck the cease fire, Annan insisted "all parties have obligations to implement fully the six-point plan."
The UN-Arab League envoy's plan calls for the withdrawal of forces from urban areas, the release of arbitrarily detained people, freedom of movement for journalists and the right to demonstrate.
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