UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has said that a ceasefire in Syria appears to be holding but President Bashar al-Assad must carry out all parts of an agreed peace plan.
"I am encouraged by reports that the situation in Syria is relatively calm and that the cessation of hostilities appears to be holding," Mr Annan said in a statement released as he briefed the UN Security Council on the Syria crisis.
There have been no reports of fresh violence in Syria after a ceasefire came into effect this morning.
The flashpoint provinces of Homs, Hama and Idlib, which have been under sustained shelling by President Bashar al-Assad's forces over the past week, were said to be calm after the deadline.
An activist in Damascus said the capital was also quiet.
Western countries have publicly doubted Syria's long-term willingness to comply with the proposals.
That view was echoed by opposition Syrian National Council spokesman Ausama Monajed.
Echoing reports from opposition activists in some of the most battered districts of Homs, Hama and Idlib, Mr Annan said: "the cessation of hostilities appears to be holding ... this is bringing much-needed relief and hope to the Syrian people who have suffered so much for so long in this brutal conflict."
But he urged the Security Council to demand a full military withdrawal to bolster the extremely fragile truce, part of his six-point plan which also calls for dialogue between the government and opposition aimed at a "political transition".
However, Syrian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Dr Jihad Makdissi said his government would observe the ceasefire, as long as its opponents did too.
Russia, one of Syria's closest allies, said the rebels must respond with their own ceasefire.
The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria in the past 13 months.
