An internationally brokered ceasefire in Syria has come into effect with few reports of violence, but the government has not begun withdrawing troops and armoured vehicles from civilian areas, leaving a key part of the peace plan unfulfilled.
The truce, negotiated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, appeared to be holding on Thursday morning, with activists throughout the country reporting no casualties and only a few scattered shootings and shellings after a night when violence flared.
China, which has stood by Syria during the 13-month crisis, welcomed the development, saying it hoped the government continued to "take concrete actions to support and co-operate with Annan's mediation efforts".
Western leaders have expressed doubts about that the Syrian government will honour the deal amd have called on other nations to take additional action against Syria at the UN Security Council.
Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported that the armed forces had called a halt to their mission as of Thursday morning, declaring themselves "successful" in combating "criminal acts by armed terrorist groups".
But the agency, quoting an unnamed defence ministry source, said the military would remain on alert to confront the "terrorists".
Since protests inspired by uprisings in other Arab countries first broke out in Syria in March 2011, the government has brutally suppressed the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, killing more than 9,000 people and spawning an armed insurgency.
Humanitarian aid
Syrian rebels, loosely organised across Syria's provinces, do not obey a set chain of command, and it remains a question whether they will obey the ceasefire.
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Hatay in Turkey, said commanders in the opposition Free Syrian Army had declared their intent to abide the ceasefire.
Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, said Annan "doesn't expect a total halt of the violence" but wants to ensure at least enough room for humanitarian aid to arrive.
On Thursday morning, activists in Syria and relaying information on Twitter reported no violence and calm streets in many flashpoint cities, though they expected attacks to resume.
Saif, an activist in hard-hit Homs, told Al Jazeera that he thought shelling would resume within hours.
"All the shops are closed for more than two months, nobody is able to go to work, all communications except phone lines are disconnected in most of the areas, schools are closed also ... there are many difficulties," he said.
Abu Rami, another Homs activist, said that while shelling and attacks in the city in the hours before the ceasefire had "claimed the lives of dozens," there had been no shootings or explosions on Thursday.
Soldiers and armoured vehicles were still stationed at checkpoints, he said.
"I think many people will go down to the streets and keep protesting in their demonstrations and calling for their main goal, that this regime must step down," he said.
Suspicion and cynicism
US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in a telephone call on Wednesday that "more resolute" UN Security Council action was needed on Syria, the White House said.
"The President and Chancellor shared the concern that the Assad government was not complying with the terms of the agreement negotiated by Kofi Annan and continued to engage in unacceptable brutality against its own people," a White House statement said.
"They agreed that this underscored the need for the UN Security Council to come together to take more resolute action."
Al Jazeera's Cath Turner, reporting from the UN in New York, said the statement by the Syrian government "has been greeted with a great deal of suspicion and cynicism".
"Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, and the current president of the UN Security Council, spoke about the letter that has been submitted by President Assad, and she was very clear in the fact that she was not taking anything in that letter at its word, because, she said, President Assad did not have a very good track record at keeping his word," our correspondent said.
