BEIRUT - UN observers have suspended their patrols in Syria because of recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan is unravelling.
The UN observers have been the only working part of a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, which the international community sees as its only hope to stop the bloodshed.
The plan called for the foreign monitors to check compliance with a ceasefire that was supposed to go into effect on April 12, but they have become the most independent witnesses to the carnage on both sides as government and rebel forces have largely ignored the truce.
Major General Robert Mood, the UN mission chief, said yesterday intensifying clashes over the past 10 days were posing significant risks to the 300 unarmed observers spread out across the country, and impeding their ability to carry out their mandate.