Ceasefire Officially Comes to Force in Syria

The UN estimates about 9 000 people have died in Syria since anti-government protests began in March 2011. File photo

The ceasefire in Syria has become official and effective by the deadline of Thursday, April 12, 2012.

The ceasefire is mandated by a peace plan authored by UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had agreed on.

Despite the official ceasefire declaration, Western countries have publicly doubted Syria's willingness to stick to it, with the US noting that Syria's pledge has "little if any credibility'," BBC reports Thursday.

Syria's authorities declare they would abide by the ceasefire but have reserved the right to respond to rebel attacks while the rebels' main armed group stressed they would do the same.

Annan's spokesperson is quoted saying thе envoy has received written assurances from the Syrian foreign ministry that government troops would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 06:00 (03:00 GMT)... while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups."

So far there have been no reported violations of the ceasefire.

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