Syria's fragile cease-fire breaks

BEIRUT -- Syria's 4-day-old cease-fire appeared to be eroding quickly yesterday, with regime forces firing dozens of tank shells and mortar rounds in the opposition stronghold of Homs, hours before the arrival of a first team of UN truce monitors.

The overall level of violence has dropped, but escalating regime attacks over the weekend raised new doubts about President Bashar Assad's commitment to a plan by special envoy Kofi Annan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on Syria's political future.

Assad accepted the truce deal at the prodding of Russia, but his compliance has been limited. He has halted shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods, with the exception of Homs, but ignored calls to pull troops out of urban centers, apparently for fear of losing control over the country. Rebel fighters have also kept up attacks, including shooting ambushes.

The international community hopes UN observers will be able to stabilize the cease-fire, which formally took effect Thursday. A six-member advance team of UN observers headed to Damascus yesterday, a day after a unanimous UN Security Council approved such a mission. A larger team of 250 observers requires more negotiations with Syria next week.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed serious concern at the shelling of Homs and said "the whole world is watching with skeptical eyes." With Assad seen as a reluctant participant in Annan's plan, the observers' success will depend on how much access they can negotiate in Syria, analysts said.

The Security Council demanded freedom of movement for the UN team, but the regime could create obstacles; an Arab League observer mission's failure earlier this year was blamed in part on restrictions imposed on the visitors. -- AP