The head of the UN military observer mission in Syria, Major General Robert Mood, says that it was the responsibility of the Syrian army to make the first move to halt the violence.

"If you have two individuals using on each other all their weapons, who is going to be the first one to move the finger? Who is going to be the first one to make the move?" Mood asked, during a visit to the battered central city of  Homs.

"My approach to that is that the strongest part needs to make the first move," he told reporters.

"I was referring to the Syrian government and the Syrian army. They have the strength, they have the position and they also have the potential generosity to make the first step in a good direction," he said, when pressed on whether he was speaking about the regime forces. [AFP]