Syrian opposition unites

Syria's opposition factions agreed on Tuesday to name the Syrian National Council as their representative. The SNC immediately called on President Bashar al-Assad to pull out tanks to show he was serious about a peace plan crafted by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

"The Syrian government has written to the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan accepting his six-point plan, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council," Ahmad Fawzi, Annan's spokesman, said in a statement.

The SNC remains sceptical that Assad will keep his word.

Annan had written to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asking Damascus to "put its commitments into immediate effect," he added.

Annan's plan calls for a ceasefire by Syrian troops, to be supervised by the UN, a daily two-hour humanitarian halt to fighting to be able to evacuate the wounded as well as inclusive talks to find a solution to the crisis.

Annan to brief UN on Monday

The former UN secretary general is scheduled to brief the UN Security Council next Monday. The announcement came during Annan's visit to China, where he was meeting President Wen Jiabao to drum up support for his plan.

Despite the announcement, the US remains cautious in completely buying Assad's commitment to the plan.

"Given Assad's history of over-promising and under-delivering, that commitment (to Annan) must now be matched by immediate actions," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington. "We will judge Assad's sincerity and seriousness by what he does, not by what he says."

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague echoed Clinton's sentiment, saying "we will continue to judge the Syrian regime by its practical actions, not by its often empty words."

mz/ipj (Reuters, AP, AFP)