The vote came as the fragile ceasefire that had been in force for three days was rocked by fighting in the central city of Homs, where regime forces shelled rebel-held neighbourhoods. Rebel fighters were also reported to have fired rocket-propelled grenades at an area held by regime loyalists.
In Aleppo, Syria's largest city, regime forces opened fire on mourners at a funeral, while rebel gunmen ambushed a car carrying soldiers in the southern province of Daraa. The two sides have traded allegations of violations of the truce since it took effect last week.
However, yesterday's reports of the use of heavier weapons suggested the ceasefire was in jeopardy.
A video, shot in a destroyed part of what the cameraman said was the Homs neighbourhood of al-Qarabis, showed two tanks rushing through the streets to the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions. "Look with your own eyes. Look, world. Watch what they are doing," the man making the video screamed as a tank raised its turret.
The Syrian state news agency, Sana, said "armed terrorists" killed five people in ambushes around the country yesterday and kidnapped a parliamentary candidate from the north.
Since the truce brokered by Annan came into effect, fewer deaths have been reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shelling yesterday morning in Homs lasted for about an hour and there were no reports of casualties.
Activist Tarek Badrakhan in the Homs neighbourhood of Khaldiyeh, as well as observatory monitors, said the shelling targeted the neighbourhoods of Jouret el-Shayah and Qarabees.
"I can see black smoke billowing from a building that was hit in Jouret el-Shayah," Badrakhan told the Associated Press via Skype.
The Local Co-ordination Committees activist group said troops fired at a funeral in Aleppo. The observatory said three people were wounded.
Troops were conducting a wave of arrests in the Damascus suburb of Dumair when a car exploded, killing one civilian and wounding two others, it said.
- Observer
