UN observers committed to staying in Syria

UN observers committed to staying in Syria: A U.N. diplomat who was at the briefing, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because the briefing was closed, said Mood told the council the observers have suffered direct fire at least 10 times, have been in several indirect fire incidents, and nine UN vehicles were damaged or struck by small arms fire. Mood spoke after briefing the U.N. Security Council during a closed meeting on the situation in Syria, where shelling and clashes between rebel fighters and government troops in Homs have continued. Mood did not attribute the suspension of the mission to any single incident, but said that among the issues was the inability of the observers to get through an angry crowd that mobbed their motorcade in the town of Haffa on June 12, when their motorcade was attacked by mobs with stones and metal rods and blocked by gunfire. The diplomat added that Mood told the council there has been little or no effort to ensure civilian protection by the Syrian government, and there has been no increase in the pace and scale of release of people who are arbitrarily detained.