BICOM

A UN-brokered ceasefire was due to go into effect in Syrian this morning, but there was no sign that fighting between troops loyal to Assad and opposition forces was nearing an end. The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United Nations’ Kofi Annan, would see Syrian troops pull out of civilian areas. Activists reported Monday that 155 people were killed across Syria. Damascus says it will withdraw from city centres only if the opposition forces commit in writing to hold their fire, a prerequisite that the opposition has dismissed out of hand.

Fighting between Syrian forces and rebel fighters reached Syria’s borders with Turkey and Lebanon Monday. Syrian government forces reportedly fired across the border into a refugee camp in Turkey, killing two people and wounding three others. A journalist was also killed on Monday in Lebanon’s Wadi Khaled area as gunfire broke out in the nearby Syrian village of Armouta. A spokesperson for the US State Department said the US was “absolutely outraged” by the latest attacks.

According to a report in Haaretz this morning, there is a wide scepticism in Israel that the ceasefire in Syria will take hold. Israeli officials are also concerned about reports showing Syrian weapons falling into Hezbollah’s hands. It is still unclear whether the Lebanese Shi’ite organisation has gained access to Syria’s large stocks of chemical weapons.