The head of the UN observer mission in Syria Maj Gen Robert Mood has called on president Bashar Assad and the country's opposition to stop fighting and allow a tenuous ceasefire to take hold. The UN has authorised 300 observers to enter the country.
Maj Gen Robert Mood, a Norwegian, was appointed head of the observer mission by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. One-hundred monitors should be in the country by mid-May, said mission spokesman Neeraj Singh. It is unclear when or if the full contingent of 300 monitors will deploy to Syria.
Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has criticised the UN, claiming that the government are being 'unfairly targeted'.
Major General Robert Mood is the man tasked with leading the mission to observe a ceasefire in Syria.