France Condemns UN Convoy Attack in Syria

    2012-05-10 03:45:32     Xinhua       Web Editor: luodan

France on Wednesday firmly condemned a bomb attack on a United Nations convoy in southern Syria which left eight injured. French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bernard Valero said Syrian authorities are responsible to secure the safety of UN observers with "total freedom of movement during the mission." "Our priority is the rapid and full deployment of the observer mission of the United Nations in Syria and that a democratic transition is made possible," Valero added. Reports said a roadside bomb went off Wednesday close to the passage of the UN observers heading to Syrian's southern province of Daraa, injuring eight accompanying security personnel, including a first lieutenant. A spokesman of UN-Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan confirmed later that there were no casualties. Last month, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to approve the deployment to Syria of up to 300 unarmed UN military observers to monitor a fragile ceasefire between the Syrian government forces and armed opposition fighters. So far, about 40 observers are on the ground. Annan expressed Tuesday "profound concern" over the ongoing violence, saying Syria could descend into a full-scale civil war.