Friday was, as usual, a day of major public protests in Syria, with tens of thousands taking to the streets. But while there were some reports of clashes with police, the ceasefire appears to have held through another day.
This marks two days of relative calm in Syria since the ceasefire formally took effect, and despite rebels claiming that it was “doomed” from the start, there seems to be more optimism going into the weekend.
Kofi Annan’s peace plan centered on securing a ceasefire from both sides before moving toward the deployment of monitors and a negotiation of a settlement. Little planning has been made on the post-ceasefire steps, since no one expected the deal to get this far.
But now, the negotiations are ongoing at the UN Security Council on sending the first few members of a UN observer team. This will be yet another difficult step, and the US and Russia are already fighting over the terms of the resolution.
