Syrian refugees spill into Turkey

More than 2,300 Syrians have fled into Turkey since Wednesday, officials there have said, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warns the crisis is escalating. The figure is more than twice the highest previous one-day total in March, when more than 1,000 people crossed over the border. Earlier, the UN called for the Syrian government to \"urgently\" implement an agreed ceasefire. Meanwhile, activists said troops have attacked a Damascus suburb. Blasts and gunfire rocked the suburb, Douma, on Thursday in an assault which the opposition said showed an intensification of violence. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting to crush a year-long uprising, agreed late last month to a UN-Arab League peace plan which sets a 10 April deadline for a ceasefire. But there has been little sign of his adherence to the deal, while the opposition say the leader is stalling for time to make gains on the ground. A UN team has arrived in Damascus to negotiate the possibility of deploying UN monitors to oversee any ceasefire. \'War zones\' A Turkish official told Reuters news agency that the refugees crossed near to the Turkish village of Bukulmez and that others were waiting on the other side of the border. The new arrivals were taken to a refugee camp in Reyhanli in 44 minibuses, he said. More than 42,000 Syrians have fled the country since the beginning of the revolt, which has killed more than 9,000 people. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he did not trust President Assad to comply with the peace plan. \"He shoots people but pretends he is withdrawing troops. He is not withdrawing troops but he is duping the international community.\" Earlier, Mr Ban said the violence was claiming lives every day and appealed to Mr Assad \"to show vision and leadership\". \"Cities, towns and villages have been turned into war zones. The sources of violence are proliferating,\" Mr Ban told the UN General Assembly. \"The human rights of the Syrian people continue to be violated. ... Humanitarian needs are growing dramatically.\" UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan\'s plan calls for Damascus to pull back troops and heavy weaponry by 10 April, and for a full ceasefire by 48 hours later. Mr Annan, the former head of the UN, said he expected a full ceasefire to take effect by 06:00 (03:00 GMT) on 12 April. But Syria\'s UN ambassador said that the main threat to the ceasefire came from the armed opposition backed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Bashar Jaafari demanded that Mr Annan obtain written guarantees from those countries that they were on board with the peace plan. He also said that while troops and heavy weapons would be withdrawn from cities under the plan, police would remain \"for the protection of the civilians\". Fresh violence Mr Annan said Syria had already reported some troop withdrawals from three cities but that the violence was still continuing and that \"alarming levels of casualties and other abuses continue to be reported daily\". He is expected to travel to Iran on 11 April, the day after the partial ceasefire is due, to try to win further regional support for his peace plan. The UN has requested that Mr Annan provide proposals for a mechanism to supervise the ceasefire to and update the Security Council on progress. The Security Council said it would consider further steps depending on the outcome of these reports. Mr Annan said that if the ceasefire was successful a small mobile UN monitoring mission of some 200-250 observers could be brought into Syria. Activists reported on Thursday that government forces had been shelling several towns, including Homs, Deraa and the Douma suburb of Damascus. The BBC\'s Jim Muir in Beirut says the activists are giving the clear impression that the Syrian regime is having a final crack at rebels before the ceasefire deadline. From: BBC