DUBAI (Reuters) – UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said on Wednesday
the Syrian government have assured him they will respect a ceasefire with rebel forces, less than 24 hours before a deadline
to suspend hostilities.
file photograpg showing Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League's chief peace envoy to Syria, giving a statement after his
address to the Security Council in New York by videolink at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 16 March
2012. Reports on 23 March 2012 state that Kofi Annan is to travel to Beijing, China, and Moscow, Russia on 24 and 25 March
for talks on the current crisis in Syria. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
“I have received government
assurances they will respect the ceasefire. If everyone respects it I think by 6 in the morning on Thursday we shall see
improved conditions on the ground,” Annan said during a visit to Tehran to shore up support for his United Nations and Arab
League-backed peace plan.