UN approves Syria mission

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution that authorises an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months to monitor a fragile week-old ceasefire in the country's 13-month old conflict.

The Russian and European drafted resolution said that deployment of the UN observer mission, which will be called UNSMIS, will be "subject to assessment by the Secretary-General of relevant developments on the ground, including the cessation of violence".

Saturday's resolution also noted that the cessation of violence by the government and opposition is "clearly incomplete".

It authorises the UN mission for an initial 90 days to monitor the cessation of violence and monitor and support implementation of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan.

Ban will make the "assessment" on whether it is safe to deploy the mission. This would include the consolidation of the cessation of violence started on 12 April.

The UN resolution was unanimously approved by the 15-member council, as the monitors were allowed to visit the city of Homs for the first time.

The visit came amid a lull in fighting in the opposition stronghold, which has been under bombardment by the army.

Rebels said tanks had been temporarily hidden out of sight while the observers were in the city, and that shelling was likely to resume.

However amateur video posted on the internet shows gunfire breaking out during the visit and monitors being surrounded by Homs residents. It is not clear who is responsible for the firing.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council after Saturday's vote that the resolution was "of fundamental importance" to push forward the six-point peace plan negotiated by international envoy Kofi Annan.

Britain's envoy Sir Mark Lyall Grant said the expanded observer mission "represents the last opportunity to secure a solution to the crisis in Syria.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier in the week called for a global arms embargo and further sanctions if the government continued to break the ceasefire.

The international community has also been looking at ways of getting humanitarian aid to Syria, with diplomats meeting in Geneva on Friday to discuss the situation.

They agreed to a draft plan to provide $180 million for food, medicine and other supplies to about one million people inside Syria.

That comes on top of the aid that is being delivered to refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries.