Canada backs UN observer mission to Syria; says Assad regime will be held to account

PARIS – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says Canada supports sending United Nations observers to violence-wracked Syria to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Speaking from a “Friends of Syria” meeting in Paris Thursday, Baird said the first step is to make sure that can be done safely.

While the group of Western and Arab ministers did not discuss military intervention, Baird did not rule out military support for an observer mission.

Baird stresses the group backs efforts at holding the regime of President Bashar Assad accountable for its actions.

He said the ministers are urging Syria to comply fully with a peace plan by special envoy Kofi Annan, which calls in part for a complete ceasefire in its bloody crackdown on dissent.

A small observer group is already in Syria, but the UN is pondering sending in hundreds more.