Middle East

Rebels killed 22 troops Wednesday in the Syrian army's deadliest day of a three-week-old ceasefire deal, even as UN observers said they were having a "calming" impact as they deploy on the ground.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. peacekeeping chief said Tuesday that U.N. military observers in Syria are reporting cease-fire violations from the government and opposition and he demanded an immediate halt to all violence.  Herve Ladsous refused to say which side was responsible for the most violations.

The U.N. peacekeeping chief says the Syrian military still has heavy weapons stationed in cities, and that the government and opposition have both violated a peace deal aimed at ending more than a year of unrest.  Herve Ladsous said Tuesday the 24 U.N. observers already in Syria have confirmed there are heavy weapons in several cities, in violation of the peace deal brokered by U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan.

(CNN) -- Both the Syrian government and opposition forces are violating a cease-fire, and the regime continues to deploy heavy weapons in cities, the chief U.N. peacekeeper said Tuesday.  But the presence of the tiny but growing U.N. observer team is having a "dampening effect" on what has been an atmosphere of "appalling" violence, said U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous, who spoke as deaths mounted across the country.

JERUSALEM—Israel has begun fortifying a fence along its volatile border with Lebanon, reinforcing an especially dangerous section that has been susceptible to sniper fire and other threats, military officials said Tuesday.  The military said the project was strengthening a half-mile (one kilometer) section of an existing fence in Israeli territory, and no modifications to the route were being made. Even so, to avoid friction, it said construction was coordinated with the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area, UNIFIL.

New York, NY - All the indications are that the US and its regional allies are gearing up for a Libyan déjà vu in Syria. That is a dangerous and potentially catastrophic turn of events for Syria, and for the region at large, resulting in even more blood than the murderous Syrian regime has shed so far.

The top United Nations peacekeeping official said Tuesday that Syria remained troubled by appalling violence more than two weeks into the first deployment of cease-fire monitors there and that his organization had recruited only about half of the 300-member contingent he hoped to station in the country.

Maj Gen Robert Mood, an experienced Norwegian peacekeeper, said it was up to the Assad regime and rebel forces to stop the fighting. "We will be only 300 but we can make a difference," he said as he arrived.  "Thirty unarmed observers, 300 unarmed observers, even 1,000 unarmed observers cannot solve all the problems. I call on everyone to help us and co-operate with us in this very challenging task ahead."

From all-out war to vulnerable pairs of military observers in blue berets, the United Nations Security Council can authorize a full spectrum of intervention.  Observers, peacekeepers, peacemakers – the terms vary as do the mandates. And there is plenty of overlap. Outcomes vary, too.  Some UN missions, such as the traditional buffer-zone peacekeepers still patrolling a “Green Line” in Cyprus after a half-century, seem to become part of an imperfect solution.

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N. says international monitors have moved into another hot spot in Syria to try to stop violence.  The monitoring team's spokesman, Neeraj Singh, said Friday two observers have been stationed in the southern city of Daraa. That's where the uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule began 13 months ago.