Shelling resumes in central Syria

Syrian troops have resumed their shelling of residential neighbourhoods dominated by rebels in the central city of Homs, activists say.

The reported shelling is threatening a UN-brokered ceasefire and comes hours after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to dispatch a first team of monitors to Syria to shore up the shaky truce.

The Local Co-ordination Committees activist network said shells falling at the rate of six each minute shook the neighbourhood of Khaldiyeh this morning.

Homs-based activists said other districts including Bayada, Jouret el-Shayah, Qarabees and Qusour were also being shelled.

The regime restricts access of foreign observers, including journalists, making it difficult to verify reports of violence independently.

AP

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Yesterday's resolution gave the 15-nation Security Council its first united front since the uprising against Syrian president Bashar Assad began 13 months ago.

It called for immediate deployment of up to 30 monitors, to be followed by a larger contingent of up to 250 once the situation has stabilised.

Emphasising that both sides must halt the violence that has killed more than 9,000, the council called on Syria to pull soldiers and heavy weapons out of towns and cities - a truce provision Assad's regime has ignored.

It also demanded urgent compliance with international envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan intended to lead to talks between the regime and the opposition on Syria's political future.

The plan is widely seen as the only remaining chance for diplomacy, mainly because it has the backing of Syria allies Russia and China which shielded Assad from Security Council condemnation in the past.

Annan said in Geneva that he was "very relieved and happy" about the council vote.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the resolution.

"I will make sure that this advanced observer mission will be dispatched as soon as possible and try to make concrete proposals by the 18th of April for an official observer mission," he said.

Western powers and opposition leaders remain skeptical about Assad's willingness to ease his tight grip on the country, ruled by his family for four decades. The regime appears to have complied with parts of the Annan plan, while flouting others.

With the exception of Homs, an opposition stronghold pounded by daily regime shelling in the three weeks leading up to the ceasefire, the military has halted random shelling and mortar attacks on rebel-held residential areas, which were the daily norm in recent weeks. However, it has maintained an intimidating presence of troops, tanks and plainclothes security agents in the streets and demanded that anti-government protesters seek permits, despite Annan's demand that peaceful gatherings be allowed.

A spokesman for Mr Annan later said the first batch of six United Nations observers were on their way to Syria and would arrive tonight.

Mr Annan's Geneva-based spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, said the observers would be "on the ground in blue helmets tomorrow", adding they would be "quickly augmented by up to 25 to 30 from the region and elsewhere".