Paris Strongly Condemns Attack on U.N. Convoy in Syria

France strongly condemned Wednesday's bomb attack on a convoy of U.N. observers in Syria, including the Norwegian major general heading the mission, foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

"We strongly condemn the attack targeting the convoy of General Robert Mood, head of the Syrian observer mission," said Valero. "We hold the Damascus regime responsible for the observers' security."

The bomb exploded as the convoy of four vehicles entered the town of Daraa, cradle of a 14-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Mood was in the convoy but escaped unharmed along with 11 other observers and his spokesman Neeraj Singh. Six Syrian soldiers escorting the convoy were wounded, including an officer.

The bomb attack was the latest breach of a month-old ceasefire agreement that U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said could be the last chance to avert a civil war in Syria.

Valero noted that the mission's security was enshrined in U.N. Security Council resolutions and that "it is the Syrian authorities' responsibility to guarantee this security along with the mission's total freedom of movement."