Updated 11:48 a.m. ET: The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Saturday morning to deploy 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months to monitor a fragile, week-old ceasefire in a 13-month old conflict.

The council's resolution noted that the cessation of violence by the government and opposition is "clearly incomplete."

The resolution was approved within hours of the arrival of the first ceasefire monitors in the battered Syrian city of Homs and just a day after opposition activists said shelling and gunfire had stopped for the first time in weeks.

But activists in Homs said that the shelling paused only to make it look as if the government was abiding by a truce, mediated by international Peace Envoy Kofi Annan. They said shelling would resume as soon as the monitors left.

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"It is very clear that the Syrian government can stop the violence whenever it wants at anytime in the country," Walid al-Fares, an opposition activist living in Homs told Reuters.

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On Friday, 10 people were killed in Syria's third largest city and epicenter of a year-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, after heavy bombardment from government forces.

Syrian authorities say they are fighting "armed terrorist" groups and that they are still allowed to respond to acts of aggression to maintain security despite having agreed to a ceasefire.

Amateur video posted online on Friday appeared to show heavy shelling and explosions in residential neighborhoods of Homs.

Meantime, on Saturday near the Syrian capital of Damascus, a "massive explosion" was heard near a military airport.

"I heard a massive explosion and some smoke rising," said a resident, who lives in the Mezze district of the city near the airport. He said he was not sure what had caused the explosion.

The pro-government Ikhbariya television channel said there was no gunfire in the area, denying a report by Arabic-language satellite channel al-Jazeera, but did not confirm or deny that an explosion had taken place.

The advance team of eight U.N. observers had been denied permission by the Syrian authorities to go to Homs last week - purportedly for security reasons.

Syria: Nation at a crossroads

On Thursday, Syria and the United Nations signed an agreement setting out the working conditions of ceasefire observers. The agreement stipulates "unfettered access" and freedom for monitors to travel and contact people.

Top U.N. humanitarian official John Ging said on Friday he hoped Syria would also grant permission in the coming days to send more aid workers to the country, where at least 1 million people are in need of urgent assistance.

He told reporters in Geneva that Syria had recognized there were "serious humanitarian needs" and that action was required, but logistical issues and visas for aid workers are still being discussed.

After a month-long shelling campaign in the central Homs district of Baba Amr, the Syrian government prevented the International Committee for the Red Cross from entering the area for several days. Opposition activists living in Homs said the government wanted to remove evidence of war crimes.

The United Nations estimates Assad's forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the uprising. Syria says foreign-backed militants have killed more than 2,600 soldiers and police.

The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on a draft resolution on Saturday to authorize the deployment to Syria of up to 300 unarmed military observers.

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UNITED NATIONS -- Syria has not fully complied with its obligations to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from towns and has yet to send a "clear signal" about its commitment to peace, the U.N. chief told the Security Council in a letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said an expanded U.N. monitoring mission for Syria would be comprised of "an initial deployment" of up to 300 unarmed observers who would supervise a fragile week-old ceasefire between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and opposition fighters seeking to oust him.

"The Syrian Government has yet to fully implement its initial obligations regarding the actions and deployments of its troops, or to return them to barracks," he told the council.

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"Violent incidents and reports of casualties have escalated again in recent days, with reports of shelling of civilian areas and abuses by Government forces," he said. "The Government reports violent actions by armed groups."

 

"The cessation of armed violence is therefore clearly incomplete," Ban said, adding that both sides say they are committed to ending the "violence in all its forms."

Diplomats on the 15-nation council say Ban's report and a briefing they will receive from U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan's deputy Jean-Marie Guehenno on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. ET will be crucial in determining whether the conditions are right for deploying a U.N. monitoring mission to Syria.

Ban said such a force would be helpful in securing an end to all fighting though it was essential the conditions be right for deployment.

"Developments since 12 April underline the importance of sending a clear message to the authorities that a cessation of armed violence must be respected in full, and that action is needed on all aspects of (Annan's) six-point (peace) plan," he said.

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"At the same time the very fragility of the situation underscores the importance of putting in place arrangements that can allow impartial supervision and monitoring," he said.

An advance team of monitors in Syria had visited the town of Deraa and "enjoyed freedom of movement" there, Ban said. However, he noted that "the team's initial request to visit Homs was not granted, with officials claiming security concerns."

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An Arab League advisory body called Sunday for the immediate withdrawal of the organization's monitoring mission in Syria, saying it was allowing Damascus to cover up continued violence and abuses, Reuters reported.

The Arab League has sent a small team to Syria to check whether President Bashar al-Assad is keeping his promise to end a crackdown on a nine-month uprising against his rule.

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The observer mission has already stirred controversy. Rights groups have reported continued deaths in clashes and tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to show the observers the extent of their anger.

The Sudanese head of the mission also infuriated some observers by suggesting he was reassured by first impressions of Homs, one of the main centers of unrest. 

'Anger'
The Arab Parliament, an 88-member advisory committee of delegates from each of the League's member states, on Sunday said the violence was continuing to claim many victims.

"For this to happen in the presence of Arab monitors has roused the anger of Arab people and negates the purpose of sending a fact-finding mission," the organisation's chairman Ali al-Salem al-Dekbas said.

"This is giving the Syrian regime an Arab cover for continuing its inhumane actions under the eyes and ears of the Arab League," he said.

The Arab Parliament was the first body to recommend freezing Syria's membership in the organization in response to Assad's crackdown.

An Arab League official, commenting on the parliament's statement, told Reuters it was too early to judge the mission's success, saying it was scheduled to remain in Syria for a month and that more monitors were on their way.

The parliament called on the League's Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby to convene a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to adopt a resolution to withdraw the mission immediately.

The continued abuse and killing of innocent Syrian civilians was a "blatant violation to the Arab League's protocol", Dekbas said.

Syria's state news agency SANA said there had been "massive demonstrations" throughout Syria on Friday in support of Assad, and denouncing "the plot which Syria is exposed to."

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It said demonstrators had denounced "the pressure and biased campaigns targeting Syria's security and stability" and the "lies and fabrications of the misleading media channels."

Syrian authorities have accused foreign powers of arming and funding "terrorists" in the country and say 2,000 of the government's soldiers and police have been killed.

Meanwhile The Associated Press reported that the Swiss supreme court has rejected a demand by a cousin of Assad to visit his lawyer in Switzerland.

Hafez Makhlouf had petitioned Switzerland's Federal Tribunal to grant him a visa so he could discuss with his lawyer how to overturn international sanctions imposed against him.

The verdict published Thursday was reported Sunday by Switzerland's NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

The 40-year-old army colonel heads the Damascus branch of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate.

European Union sanctions against Makhlouf say he is close to Assad's younger brother Maher, believed to be leading the crackdown against regime opponents.

Last week Switzerland revealed it had frozen some 50 million Swiss francs ($53 million) linked to senior regime officials.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.