Russia Asks Annan to Press Syrian Opposition as Int'l Envoy Arrives in Iran

Syrian forces on Tuesday pounded protest hubs in apparent breach of a ceasefire deal brokered by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who appealed for his plan to be implemented without preconditions.

Syria said it was abiding by the plan, but Annan accused Damascus of pulling troops from some areas and moving them to others, and the rebel Free Syrian Army warned it would resume attacks if the government offensive does not stop.

Washington said it hoped the U.N. Security Council would consider action if Annan concludes that Damascus broke its commitments.

The violence drew sharp condemnation from France and Britain, with even Russia urging its ally to act more decisively to implement the truce.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Damascus begun carrying out the Annan deal by pulling some troops out of certain provinces.

But Annan, visiting Syrian refugees in Turkey, mocked Damascus's commitment to the plan.

"The Syrian military is withdrawing from some areas but moving to others not previously targeted," he said.

"I again appeal to the Syrian government and the Syrian parties to cease violence in accordance (with) the plan," he told reporters. "I believe there should be no preconditions for stopping violence."

Later on Tuesday, Annan arrived in Iran for talks centering on the Islamic republic's key regional ally, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Annan flew in from Turkey after visiting Syrian refugees there. He is scheduled to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi early on Wednesday.

Iran has repeated that it fully backs the Assad regime, and has lent it political and material support.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said late last month that "Iran will defend Syria because of its backing of the anti-Zionist resistance."

Annan also told the UN Security Council in a letter on Tuesday that Assad had failed to send the required "signal of peace." He said a "fundamental change of course" was needed by Assad to achieve a ceasefire in the next 48 hours.

The Syrian army continued "rolling military operations" against civilian targets in the days ahead of a Tuesday deadline to get guns and troops out of Syrian cities, Annan said in a letter to the council obtained by Agence France Presse.

"The days before April 10 could have been an opportunity for the government of Syria to send a powerful political signal of peace," Annan said. "In the last five days it has become clear that such a signal has yet to be issued."

The Annan plan has been under a cloud since Sunday, when Damascus said it would keep its side of the bargain only if rebels gave guarantees they would also stop fighting, a condition rejected out of hand.

At least 17 people died across Syria on Tuesday, including six soldiers in the northeastern province of Hassakeh, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad also shot four people in the village of Kfar Zeita in the central Hama province, but it was unclear if they were rebels or civilians.

Clashes also rocked the district of Mzeyreeb in the southern province of Daraa, where the dissent movement launched a year ago.

The Local Coordination Committees, one of the main opposition groups inside Syria, said "large military reinforcements" had arrived overnight on the eastern outskirts of Rastan in central Homs province.

The report could not be verified because of curbs on media activity.

Under the Annan deal, Syria was supposed to withdraw its forces from population centers on Tuesday ahead of a complete ceasefire on Thursday.

Activists say Syria has intensified its crackdown since the weekend when around 180 people were killed. On Monday, 105 died in one of the bloodiest days since mid-March last year.

Free Syrian Army spokesman Colonel Kassem Saadeddine warned that rebel forces would resume attacks on regular forces if they do not withdraw.

"If (the regime) does not stop shelling and not withdraw tanks, we will intensify our military operations and launch attacks," he told Agence France Presse.

The head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, warned that his group, "as the legitimate representative of the people, will not allow the regime to use the (U.N.) plan as a license to kill."

But Muallem insisted Damascus had begun implementing the Annan plan.

"We have already withdrawn military units from different Syrian provinces," he told a Moscow news conference after talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov said Syria should be more decisive in fulfilling the Annan plan, which most notably calls on Syria to pull troops and weaponry out of cities hit by protests.

"We believe their actions could have been more active, more decisive when it comes to the implementation of the plan," he said.

Lavrov later spoke with Annan by phone, telling him to put more pressure on the rebels to cooperate with his initiative.

He told Annan "the Syrian opposition and states that support it must take urgent measures to ensure a sustainable ceasefire," and urged him "to step up his work with them along these lines," the foreign ministry said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington had so far only seen evidence of further "brutality and aggression" from Assad's forces.

"We would certainly hope the U.N. Security Council would evaluate the situation in Syria if in fact Mr. Annan finds that the Assad regime has not abided by its own commitments to begin withdrawal by today," Carney said.

Germany's U.N. ambassador, Peter Wittig, said Syria has not complied with the plan and that international measures must be studied.

Assad "has not complied with the Annan plan; instead he has scaled up violence and human rights violations," Wittig said.

There was equally tough language from London and Paris.

"There is no evidence so far that the Assad regime has any intention of adhering to any agreement it makes," Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Syrian forces "have ruthlessly subjected whole communities to an inhumane campaign of shelling, forced expulsions and executions.

"All those with influence over the Syrian leadership, including Russia, have a duty to back efforts to stop the violence and to isolate a regime which is as doomed as it is dangerous to the Syrian people," he added.

French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero called Muallem's assertion that Syria pulled troops out of some areas "a new expression of a flagrant and unacceptable lie."

Damascus was also rebuked for violence that spilled over into its neighbors on Monday, killing a Lebanese TV cameraman inside Lebanon and wounding four people in a Turkish camp for Syrian refugees.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syria of a "clear violation" of common frontiers, while Lebanon demanded an investigation.

The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed since anti-regime protests broke out in March 2011. Monitors put the number at more than 10,000.