UN Security Council passes plan to deploy Syria monitors

A general view of buildings, which according to the opposition were damaged by the government"s army, at Juret al-Shayah in Homs April 14, 2012.

Activists say government tanks have been pounding parts of the city of Homs

Syria Crisis

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution authorising the deployment of an advance team of monitors to Syria to oversee the ceasefire there.

A small group of observers has been poised to leave for Syria as soon as a resolution is passed. Correspondents say they could leave within hours.

The vote comes as a BBC reporter says the ceasefire appears to be in danger of collapsing in some parts of Syria.

Activists said violence in the restive city of Homs left several dead.

The resolution was passed unanimously after Russia approved a revised text, which authorised the deployment of a small advance party of observers.

Diplomats had revised a US-proposed draft on Friday to accommodate Russian objections. Russia had vetoed two previous resolutions on Syria.

The resolution calls for the deployment of an advance team of monitors. Additional approval will be required to increase the deployment to 250, the total which Mr Annan is seeking.

Meanwhile the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut, who has been monitoring developments in Syria, says that in parts of the country the ceasefire is in danger of collapsing, unless something is done to shore it up.

In Syria's third biggest city of Homs, government forces have been pounding some quarters with tanks and rocket fire.

Activists say at least 17 people have been killed there and in other incidents, including at a funeral in Aleppo, where several people were reported shot dead by security forces.