(Adds denial by Colonel Himmiche)
By Dominic Evans and Oliver Holmes
BEIRUT, April 18 (Reuters) – Shooting broke out in a Syrian
town on Wednesday during a visit by United Nations monitors
overseeing a ceasefire brokered by international envoy Kofi
Annan, pro-government media and activists said.
Six U.N. observers travelled to Erbin escorted by Syrian
police cars and were mobbed by flag-waving demonstrators
protesting against President Bashar al-Assad.
Activist amateur video footage, allegedly filmed in Erbin in
Damascus province, showed two white cars with U.N. markings
surrounded by anti-Assad protesters.
There was a loud bang, the protesters fled, and the camera
moved to show dust rising in front of the first car before the
sound of sirens as the vehicles sped away.
In Damascus, head of the U.N. advance monitoring team
Colonel Ahmet Himmiche denied the cars had been fired upon.
“No, we did not come under fire in Erbin,” he told Reuters
TV.
Another activist video from Erbin showed Himmiche walking
through the tight throng wearing a U.N. blue beret and
flak-jacket and getting into his vehicle where he spoke on a
loud-hailer, apparently asking the crowd to move back and let
the cars move out.
A banner held by one of the protesters read: “The butcher
continues killings, the observers continue observing, and the
people continue with their revolution. We only bow to God.”
Syria’s state Ikhbariya television channel said a “terrorist
group” had also planted a bomb at a checkpoint, wounding a
member of the Syrian security forces.
Another Internet video which activists said was filmed in
Erbin showed a crowd of people running down a street with the
sound of automatic weapons fire in the background.
There are as yet only half a dozen U.N. monitors in Syria,
led by Himmiche. On Tuesday, they made a trip south to the city
of Deraa apparently without incident.
(Editing by Maria Golovnina)
