...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...'s peace plan.
China welcomed Syria's decision to uphold a "comprehensive ceasefire" describing it as a step towards a political solution, as Russia called for more time for the plan to work.
After breaking a commitment to pull back forces from population centres by Tuesday under the agreement brokered by former UN chief Annan, there were still no signs of a withdrawal, monitors said.
"The situation remains calm in all the regions of Syria," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, almost six hours after the ceasefire deadline.
A "few kabooms" were heard in the town of Zabadani, just outside the capital, shortly after it came into effect, Abdel Rahman told AFP in Beirut.
"There have not been any serious withdrawals of checkpoint of military reinforcements in Idlib, Hama, Homs, the province of Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
or the northern Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
province," he said.
Activists in Damascus, Hama, and Daraa also reported that calm has prevailed since the deadline. The reports could not be verified due to the Damascus government's curbs on media.
"The test will be tomorrow, when demonstrators take to the streets" after the Mohammedan Friday prayers, a traditional high point for protests, said activist Muaz from Damascus.
Just hours before the deadline expired at 6 am, the military unleashed a lethal offensive against protest centres, killing 25 civilians on Wednesday, including 10 in the rebel stronghold of Rastan.