Damascus: A ceasefire in Syria came into effect at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) in line with an ultimatum set by UN/Arab League envoy Kofi Annan aimed at ending violence that has killed thousands over 13 months.
Syria has said it would abide by the ceasefire but reserved the right to respond to attacks.
So far there have been no reported violations, but US said Syria’s pledge held “little if any credibility”.
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, lambasted by much of the international community for failing to live up to its promises, was very much under the limelight after the United States warned it would “judge the Assad regime by what it does, not by what it says.”
Damascus should have withdrawn its troops from contentious urban areas on Tuesday under Annan’s plan, but it did not.
 Mr Annan received written assurances from the Syrian foreign ministry that government troops would “cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 06:00 (03:00 GMT)… while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups”, his spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi said.
“An hour after the ultimatum expired, the situation is calm in all regions,” Rami Abdel Rahman, chairman of the London-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory, told the AFP news agency.
The violence has claimed more than 10,000 lives, mostly civilians, since the revolt against Assad broke out on March 15 last year.
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