Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from the Turkish capital Istanbul, where Syrian opposition groups were meeting on Saturday, said the reaction to the move by the UN mission was "a lack of surprise on the whole".

"One delegate at the SNC and wider opposition meeting said to me that he had seen this coming. He felt when the attack on the UN convoy trying to reach the Latakia city of Al Haffeh happened a couple of days ago, when they were prevented from reaching that city to verify what had gone on there because their road was obstructed and then subsequently the convoy was attacked, the UN missions days to Syria, its operation was numbered.

"Another delegate said to me afterall they were there to observe and, from where they sat, the regime had done everything to obstruct the mission to go in and actually view things. So in a sense they weren't being able to do the full job they were sent in to do so what was the point of them being here anymore?

"However they felt that this [suspension] would increase pressure on Syria and it would increase pressure on Russia and China who have been so staunchly behind the Annan plan and the implementation of it in any shape or form. This might increase the pressure on them to do something else constuctive to bring some kind of a resolution or de-escalation of the situation in Syria.