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DAMASCUS, Syria – The head of a U.N. observer team in Syria cautioned Friday thatthe mission cannot achieve a permanent end to the violence withoutgenuine talks between the two sides that have been locked in aviolent conflict for more than a year. Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the 200-strongobserver team, spoke as government forces pounded a rebel-held townnorth of the central city of Homs with artillery shells androckets, according to Syrian opposition groups. Mood warned that no number of observers can achieve "a permanentend to the violence if the commitment to give dialogue a chance isnot genuine from all internal and external actors." He spoke at anews conference in the Syrian capital, Damascus. International powers have pinned their hopes on a peace plan forSyria that special envoy Kofi Annan brokered in April. The planpaved the way for the U.N. observers, and it calls for a cease-fireand dialogue to stop 15 months of bloodshed. The U.N. estimated in March that the violence in Syria has killedmore than 9,000 people. Hundreds more have been killed since thenas a revolt that began with mostly peaceful calls for reform hastransformed into an armed insurgency. Both sides have flouted the cease-fire, raising concerns that thepeace plan is ineffective in a conflict where the violence isspinning out of control. "We condemn in the strongest terms violence in all its forms by allparties," Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for Annan, said in Geneva. "Thismust come to an end for any political process to be launched and tohave a glimmer of success." But dialogue seems a distant hope. The opposition refuses to engagewith the regime while the killings continue, and the governmentbrands its opponents as terrorists. Syrian President Bashar Assad denies that there is a popular willbehind the country's uprising, saying foreign extremists aredriving the unrest to destroy the country. Friday's shelling is part of an offensive that has been going onfor days as the regime tries to retake the town of Rastan, whichhas been under the control of rebels since January. Two main activist groups, the Local Coordination Committees and theBritain-based Syrian Observatory for human rights, said Rastan wasunder intense shelling as of Friday morning. Videos posted onlineshowed thick smoke and shells slamming into districts in Rastan. "I am more convinced than ever that no amount of violence canresolve this crisis," Mood said in Damascus. He also said recentsuicide bombs and roadside blasts were alarming. "I am concernedabout the incidents where explosives, improvised devices aretargeting innocent civilians, innocent people because it is notgoing to help the situation." On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he believesthat "alarmingly and surprisingly," al-Qaida must have been behindthe massive attack in the Syrian capital last week. The twin suicide car bombings outside a military intelligencebuilding on May 10 bore the al-Qaida-style tactics seen inneighboring Iraq. Some 55 people died and dozens were injured inthe Damascus blasts. Ban said that al-Qaida's involvement in the region "has createdvery serious problems." He also noted that there have also been two attacks against unarmedU.N. monitors trying to reduce the violence in Syria that beganmore than a year ago with a popular uprising against Assad. His comments were made to students attending the annual Model U.N.Conference in New York. ___ Karam reported from Beirut. AP writer John Heilprin contributedfrom Geneva. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Custom Injection Molding Manufacturer , China Aluminium Die Casting Mould, and more. For more , please visit Plastic Injection Molded Parts today!
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