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U.N. chief wants more observers in Syria
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks during a press conference April 17, 2012, in Luxembourg.
(Credit: AFP/Getty Images)In a letter to the Security Council, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposes a supervision mission of up to 300 observers in Syria.
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Advance team of U.N. observers arrives in Syria
(Credit: AP)
The observers departed for Syria shortly after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to authorize the mission.
The observers' aim is to monitor and help maintain the still-shaky cease-fire between the government of President Bashar Al-Assad and armed opposition fighters.
The unarmed military team, headed by an Indian general, is expected to be on the ground in blue helmets as early as tomorrow. They will be augmented by additional personnel on Monday, and 25 to 30 more observers in the coming days, according to U.N. spokesman Khaled Massri.
Assuming the cease-fire holds, the 15-nation council will be asked to approve a full mission of about 250 observers, based on a report by the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon next week.
Syrian officials welcomed the arrival of the "technical" team, and said Damascus was committed to the U.N. plan, which calls for the government to ensure unimpeded freedom of movement for the observers and the ability to interview anyone they want to in private, in addition to unimpeded access for humanitarian workers.
Annan's peace plan for Syria under fire
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, unseen, at the Great Hall of People in Beijing March 27, 2012.
(Credit: AP Photo)(CBS News) UNITED NATIONS -- At the same time that new assaults are being launched against cities in Syria by the government, U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan tried to reassure the General Assembly that his peace plan was not functioning as a pretext for the Assad regime in Syria to buy time or to defeat the opposition. Many in the U.N. have come to see the Syrian conflict as an internationalized battle - a proxy war - between Russia and Iran on one side and the U.S. and the Gulf states on the other.
A still-divided U.N. Security Council adopted a non-enforceable Presidential Statement to bolster Annan just before he briefed the General Assembly.
With the deadline one week away for the cessation of all violence, at the U.N., diplomacy is decreasing and violence increasing ahead of the deadline. Despite the fact that Syria's Assad said that the government would begin to withdraw troops from population centers, the Syrian army shelled a suburb of Damascus and continued their assault on Homs.
Continue »The Syrian teen who helped spark an uprising
Mohammed, a Syrian refugee from the town of Deraa, talks to CBS News in neighboring Jordan about the one year anniversary of the Syrian uprising, March 14, 2012.
(Credit: CBS)
(CBS News) AMMAN, Jordan - One year ago Mohammed, a 15-year old kid from the Syrian city of Deraa, and his friends hit the streets to scrawl anti-regime slogans on the walls of a school.
"The first thing we did, we wrote on the walls - 'the people want the regime to fall' and 'it's your turn, Doctor!'" he says, recounting his graffiti aimed at President Bashar Assad, a western-trained medical doctor.
They were a group of children, some as young as ten, inspired by the revolutions that happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. They had no idea what they were doing. When asked if he thought at the time that the graffiti would inspire an uprising that has gone on for more than a year, he said, "we never imagined."
Mohammed and his companions were arrested and taken to the local branch of Syria's infamous political security forces where he says they were beaten - not to extract information, but as punishment for what they had done. As word spread of their detention, family members and neighbors began angrily clamoring for their release. Assad at first attempted to placate the town and ordered the children released, but he failed to stem the growing anger; demonstrations continued and soon spread throughout the entire country.
It was the moment that galvanized Syria's nascent protest movement.
Continue »Annan "optimistic" of breakthrough in Syria
Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Kofi Annan, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, in Damascus, on Saturday March 10, 2012.
(Credit: AP Photo/SANA)Last Updated 9:12 a.m. ET
(CBS News) DAMASCUS, Syria - U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan held a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Sunday in hopes of securing an encouraging response to his high-profile mission: To arrange a national political dialogue between the government and the opposition and gain unfettered access for humanitarian aid agencies.
Annan appeared to make little headway in his first round of talks with Assad on Saturday, when the Syrian president said rejected any political dialogue as long as "terrorist" groups would continue to try to destabilize the country.
According to a U.N. official in Damascus who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, Annan ended his talks Sunday with strong hopes he managed to make an advance in solving Syria's year-long crisis. "He ended very candid, positive talks with Assad, and he feels very optimistic that he is making a breakthrough," the U.N. source told CBS News.
The official said Annan will head to Qatar, Cairo and New York before returning "pretty soon" to Damascus.
Meanwhile, opposition groups have dismissed the offer for dialogue while the Syrian military continues its offensive in the north. Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, the most prominent opposition group in exile, said Friday that calls for dialogue were "naive."
Syrian forces continued to shell opposition strongholds in Homs, while fierce fighting was reported in the north Syrian town of Idlib on Saturday, where fighters from the Free Syrian Army were trying to hold back government troops.
Sixteen rebel fighters, seven soldiers and four civilians were killed in the Idlib fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said 15 other people, including three soldiers, had been killed in violence elsewhere.
With rise in Syria unrest, a rise in crime
In this image taken with a mobile phone through a car windscreen, Syrian security forces are seen with armed traffic police at a checkpoint in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, April 24, 2011.
(Credit: AP Photo)With the bloody turbulence sweeping almost half the country for nearly a year, talk of increasing rates of random crimes and murder have surfaced over the past few months, attributed to a lack of police forces on the ground capable of controlling the situation, particularly in areas where clashes could erupt between Army units and gunmen.
There have been wide talks about crimes against people, sometimes for personal revenge, exploiting the state of anarchy and disorder in some rural areas. In such cases, especially in the countryside, even if the family of a victim reports to a police station, police might find themselves incapable of doing anything to bring the killer to justice without the support of Army units and soldiers.
Syria: Overwhelming support for reform ballot
A Syrian citizen marks a ballot paper with her blood at a polling station during a referendum on the new constitution, in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday Feb. 26, 2012.
(Credit: AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)Syria's new constitution, which would put an end to five decades of one-party rule, won overwhelming approval of some 89 percent of participants in Sunday's referendum, Syria's interior minister said on Monday.
Ibrahim al-Shaar said in a press conference that the turnout in the country was 57.4 percent. The constitutional reforms, which include 14 new and 47 amended articles, were put forward by President Bashar Assad in an effort to stop the bloody uprising and pave the way for free elections in the country.
Amendments to Syria's constitution were a key demand by the opposition at the beginning of the country's protests against the Assad regime. But in the wake of the military's deadly assault on dissidents, which has been condemned by the U.S. and Syria's Arab League neighbors, many opposition leaders have demanded nothing less than Assad's departure.
The ballot measure read simply, "Do you agree on the new draft constitution?" Of the more than 8 million Syrians who voted, 9 percent voted no, al-Shaar said.
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Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?
Wyatt Andrews: Let's get right to Syria, please. I know and respect that you think the Friends of Syria conference on Friday was a success, but the shelling continues. I don't think we have any evidence that humanitarian aid is going in as the conference demanded. So on what level exactly was the conference a success?
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: Well, Wyatt, perhaps I take a longer view than some in looking at the way the Arab League has led, which has been one of the most remarkable developments of the last year, that they would take positions against fellow Arab nations on behalf of the aspirations that we all hold for the Arab Spring.
The fact that so many other countries were present and speaking with one voice, you know, this is not to be I think diminished in its importance. It doesn't mean that we aren't deeply distressed by what has continued.
Syrians vote on new constitution
A Syrian woman shows her ballot at a polling station during a referendum on the new constitution, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.
(Credit: AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)The Interior Ministry said 11,185 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and would keep receiving people to 7 p.m., adding the process could be extended until 10 p.m. in case of a big turnout.
Almost 14,4 million eligible voters (those over 18) - including police, the Army and security forces - can cast their "yes" or "no" ballots in this plebiscite. Stations opened also at state establishments to enable employees to take part, along with polling centers at airports and border crossing points.
Assad himself, and his wife, cast their votes earlier in the day in the state-run TV center, nearby the Omayad square, where a large crowd turned out and shouted slogans in his support, calling him to continue the path of reform.
The first results of the referendum could be announced as early as Monday, according to Syrian sources.
The 157-article proposed charter would drop Article 8 of the Syrian Constitution, which declares the ruling Ba'ath Party as the "leader of the state and society."
Under the new constitution, authored by a 29-member Constitutional Committee, other parties would have the "right" to name their own candidates for the presidency, which would be set at a maximum of two consecutive seven-year terms.
Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?
As the crisis in Syria intensifies, so too does the international community's involvement there.
More than 60 countries calling themselves "Friends of Syria" are holding a series of meetings to discuss the path forward for the international community. The name "Friends of Syria" is a bit of a misnomer, however, as they could better be described as "Opponents of the Assad Regime," even though not all of them are calling for the Syrian leader to step down right now.
There is no doubt that an overwhelming majority of countries in the world are in favor of the immediate end of the current Syrian regime, but Syrian President Bashar al-Assad still has some friends who are trying to influence the outcome of the current crisis.
Complete Coverage of the Syrian Conflict
While many countries, both in the Middle East and beyond, will be affected by what happens in Syria there is a small group of countries with special interests and outsized influence on the crisis. The key players in Syria are the U.S., Israel, Turkey, Russia, Iran and the Arab League. While there are countless others - China, France, Britain, and Iraq, to name a few - who will be involved in and affected by the crisis moving forward, those five appear at this time to be the ones who will have the largest interest and involvement.