the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said.
There was no immediate evidence that U.N. monitors in the convoy were the target of Wednesday's attack, Ban said through a front man. But he expressed deep concern at the growing use of roadside and other improvised bombs across Syria.
"Such incidents, in addition to the continued violence reported in many cities in Syria, call into question the commitment of the parties to the cessation of violence and may have a direct impact on the future of the (U.N.) mission," Ban said in a statement released by U.N. front man Martin Nesirky.
The roadside blast at a military checkpoint near the protest city of Daraa injured 10 Syrian troops escorting U.N. observers, according to the statement.
"We have no evidence to believe that the kaboom was intended to target the UNSMIS convoy; however, this incident demonstrates the difficult and challenging conditions under which our United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
observers are operating," said Ban.
"It also demonstrates the volatile and dangerous situation in which the Syrian people have been living for months."
Ban "strongly condemns this attack and calls on all parties to adhere to the cessation of violence and to cooperate with, support and protect the UNSMIS observers."
Ban reaffirmed that the U.N. mission and efforts of U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo..."are possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize the country and avert a civil war," said the statement.
U.N. officials say there are now 70 military observers and 43 civilian staff in the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which was set up by the U.N. Security Council to monitor a shaky cessation of hostilities started on April 12.
The U.N. says well over 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since an uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
started in March last year.
Reacting to the roadside blast, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "it is further evidence that the ceasefire is not holding and we really have to continue to pressure the Assad regime and all actors.
"And this is further to why we've got to get the monitors into as many places as we can so we have eyes on the streets and the opportunity to protect the Syrian people," Nuland said in Washington.