Kofi Annan calls for 'immediate' Syria ceasefire

The Syrian army shelled parts of Homs city and at least 10 people were killed in clashes around the country on Friday, opposition activists said, as peace envoy Kofi Annan told President Bashar al-Assad his forces must be first to cease fire and withdraw. 

"The deadline is now," Ahmad Fawzi, Annan's spokesperson, said in Geneva. "We expect him to implement this plan immediately."

The peace plan, which the government accepted on Tuesday, calls for a UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties.

But activists say government forces have been shelling the central city of Homs and fighting armed rebels in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

Five people were killed as clashes erupted in the town of Quriya, not far from the border with Iraq, when troops opened fire on a protest, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Earlier, two people were reportedly killed by government snipers in Homs and the city of Idlib, and two others were shot dead as they drove through a rural part of Homs province.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said 37 people had been killed nationwide, including four children and two women.

In Homs, Syria's third city, residents said shells and mortar rounds exploded as troops raided anti-Assad areas.

Farther north, many were wounded in fighting in Idlib province. Assad has said he will spare no effort to implement Annan's peace proposals, but warned they would not work unless there is an end to foreign funding and arming of rebel groups.

The United Nations says Assad's forces have killed at least 9,000 people in the year-long uprising. The government says around 3,000 soldiers and police have been killed.

Removing any ambiguity about the ceasefire terms of the peace plan Assad has said he accepts, Annan's spokesperson said it was up to the Syrian military to move first and show good faith by withdrawing tanks, big guns and troops from cities. 

The Annan plan "specifically asks the government to withdraw its troops, to cease using heavy weapons in populated centres", Fawzi said. 

"The very clear implication here is that the government must stop first and then discuss a cessation of hostilities with the other side and with the mediator." 

The plan requires the lightly-armed rebels to stop shooting.

But the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has not said whether it accepts Annan's proposals and political opposition groups have not explicitly endorsed his call for a dialogue with Assad. 

Annan is acting on behalf of the United Nations and Arab League. Diplomats say he may ask for a UN monitoring mission to oversee implementation of the peace plan.