Assad Agrees To April 10 Deadline For Cease-Fire

President Bashar Assad says Syria will withdraw its security forces from major population centers by April 10, the New York Times reports.

The withdrawal, part of a six-point peace plan by U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, is supposed pave the way for a general truce two days later.

Syria accepted the plan last week, but fighting continued, noted MSNBC.

Annan also asked that the Security Council prepare to deploy U.N. observers should the cease-fire become a reality, said the...