North Korea is counting down to a rocket launch that has been widely condemned by the international community. North Korean authorities on Wednesday invited foreign journalists to a satellite control center and showed the latest preparations.  Paek Chang-ho, head of the control center for the North Korean Committee of Space Technology, told the group of international reporters that fuel was being loaded onto the rocket, which is set for launch sometime between Thursday and Monday, depending on weather conditions. Video monitors showed the rocket covered with green tarpaulin. Watch a related video report by Laurel Bowman Paek said a satellite – the Gwangmyungsung-3 – has been installed on the rocket and explained what will happen if it enters into orbit.   “After ‘Gwangmyungsung-3 successfully enters orbit, we will receive satellite imagery and relay the images to relevant departments including the Earth Environment Information Center. The images are crucial to the development of the economy,” he said. Paek said Pyongyang opened the launch facility to the journalists in an effort to dispel concerns by the West and North Korea’s neighbors that it is testing a long-range ballistic missile. He asked for impartial judgement by foreign journalists and experts. Peaceful intentions? James Oberg, a space consultant for American broadcaster NBC, indicated that Pyongyang’s claims are plausible. “I believe that this is not a military shot,” he said while North Korean officials looked on. When asked about the subject later, Oberg told VOA that it was a complicated matter, without elaborating.  “It’s not simple,” he said. The United States and its allies say the rocket launch violates a U.N. Security Council ban on any North Korean ballistic missile testing. Japan and South Korea threatened to shoot down the rocket it it strays over their territory, an action Pyongyang has said would amount to a declaration of war. Nuclear test Western military experts say the technology for launching a rocket carrying a satellite and for launching a military missile is much the same, so this launch essentially tests Pyongyang’s weapons systems. Paek, however, said he will do everything to show the mission is peaceful, including sharing images sent by the satellite with other countries. He joked with the reporters that they could fly with the rocket and see if there is a warhead or a satellite inside, and said he would have a rubber boat to catch them after its stages fall into the sea.

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The U.N. and Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, said Tuesday the next 48 hours must “bring visible signs of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government forces” in Syria.   In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Mr. Annan disputed Damascus’ assertion that it is withdrawing its military from several cities, saying the Syrian army is pulling back from some areas but moving to others not previously targeted. Watch a related report by Henry Ridgwell The letter also urged the opposition to keep its commitment to stop fighting under the six-point peace plan, which demands an end to all hostilities by 6 a.m., Damascus time, on Thursday. But despite continued violence, Mr. Annan said the peace plan is “still on the table.” He said: “So let me again appeal to the Syrian government and the Syrian parties to cease violence in accordance with the plan.  And I believe there should be no preconditions for stopping violence.  There is something we need to do for the people and for the country concerned.” Kofi Annan’s Six-Point Peace Plan: A Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people. A U.N. supervised end to armed violence by all parties in Syria. Timely humanitarian assistance in all areas affected by fighting. Increasing the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained people. Ensuring freedom of movement for journalists. Respecting freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully. Members of the Security Council, meanwhile, expressed deep concern about the level of commitment to a cease-fire the Syrian government has demonstrated so far.   U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who holds the council presidency this month, said that if Syria fails to fulfill its obligations, then the international community and the Security Council will have to decide whether to remain unified and take the next step.  She said that would be to increase pressure on the Assad regime through collective action. On the ground, however, violence continued.  Syrian rights groups said at least 31 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the government shelling Tuesday – mainly in the central Hama region and the northwestern town of Mareh. “Annan’s peace plan all but dead” Middle East expert Salman Shaikh says Mr. Annan’s peace plan has virtually collapsed. “His six-point plan is dead on arrival. It is not working,” he said. “What is not dead is diplomacy. But, I think we need to now look very seriously at what other parts diplomacy can take. In my view, it has to be a much more coercive effort which tries to pull the international community to do something in Syria.” Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Center, says the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, sees force as his only option. “I’m afraid what Assad has determined is that only a security approach will manage to keep the lid on the protests which have now spread through the length and breadth of his country,” he said.  “In fact, if he was to withdraw his forces in any credible fashion, he would be facing hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of Syria, something he cannot afford any longer.” Give peace a chance Representatives of Syria’s main opposition alliance, the Syrian National Council, said Tuesday at least 1,000 people have been killed by government forces in the last eight days. SNC spokeswoman Basma Kodmani said there were no indications that President Assad was honoring terms of the cease-fire, and stressed the opposition group could not accept a partial withdrawal of government forces.    Kodmani added that despite the killings, the opposition alliance is still willing to give peace a chance, but that it will explore other options if diplomatic efforts to end the crisis fail.    Deep skepticism among Syrian refugees Mr. Annan’s efforts to end the ongoing bloodshed in Syria have been met with deep skepticism by Syrian refugees, many of whom are calling for direct intervention by the international community against the government’s crackdown. Mr. Annan visited the Yayladagi refugee camp in Turkey Tuesday.   “I have had the chance to meet men and women who have been uprooted from their homes and are now here,” he said. “I hope it is not going to be for long.  But to hear their stories, to hear how they came across, how they were shot at, some with their children, was heart-wrenching.” Mr. Annan praised Turkish authorities for the facilities they have provided, saying the camps were better than most he has visited. But observers say Mr. Annan is aware the Turkish government is increasingly concerned about the deteriorating situation in Syria and the fear the country could be faced with a humanitarian disaster. Ankara has warned it could intervene in Syria if the numbers of refugees markedly increased.  Due to the situation, Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short a visit to China and is to visit Saudi Arabia on Friday to discuss the issue.   Also Tuesday, U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman and John McCain visited the camp and issued a statement accusing the Syrian president of having no interest in complying with the Annan plan.  The senators said Mr. Assad is buying time to intensify his crackdown. “Make no mistake: the situation in Syria is an armed conflict. This is a war,” the statement said. Dorian Jones in Istanbul and Lisa Schlein in Geneva contributed to this report. Join the conversation on our social journalism site – Middle East Voices . Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.

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Syrian activists reported military attacks on two towns and no large-scale troop pullout Tuesday, the day President Bashar al-Assad was to halt the use of heavy weapons and withdraw his forces from urban areas under an internationally brokered truce. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces shelled the central city of Hama and the northwestern town of Mareh while parts of Homs came under mortar fire. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Damascus had already begun withdrawing army units from some Syrian cities but that the U.N.-brokered cease-fire must start simultaneously with the deployment of the international observer mission. He was speaking in Moscow after talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Russia has been one of few world powers to offer some support to Assad in his bloody standoff with protestors but has also backed U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s plan to end the violence. On Monday, Syrian forces opened fire across two tense borders. The violence killed a television cameraman in Lebanon and at least two people at a refugee camp in Turkey. Activists reported more than 125 people killed since Sunday within Syria as forces loyal to Assad continue to shell buildings and shoot at residents of rebellious cities. The deal brokered by Annan says Syria must begin pulling its troops out of population centers by Tuesday morning, with a full cease-fire by both sides within 48 hours. But hopes for the plan dimmed after the fresh wave of violence and new demands by the government for written guarantees that the opposition will lay down arms first. Turkish state-run (TRT) television reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru said Tuesday’s deadline for the withdrawal has become “void at this stage.” The United States and the United Nations condemned Syria’s attack on the refugee camp in the border town of Kilis as well as the death of the TV journalist in Lebanon. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington is “not hopeful” Tuesday’s cessation of hostilities will take place. But she did not give up hope on Annan’s efforts to end the bloodshed. The former U.N. secretary-general is due to visit one of the refugee camps in Turkey Tuesday ahead of a visit to Iran later this week aimed at continuing his mediation efforts. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday “the deadline has not shifted” and that “Syrian authorities need to implement the promises and the commitments that they have entered into fully and unconditionally.” The Carnegie Endowment’s Sinan Ulgen said Monday’s attack on the Turkish refugee camp may help Ankara convince its international partners to shift policy on the Assad government. Turkey has set up camps for Syrians fleeing Mr. Assad’s bloody crackdown on a 13-month anti-government uprising. Also Monday, Human Rights Watch said Syrian forces have summarily executed more than 100 people, mostly civilians, during the past four months, mostly in March. Monday’s report said this includes several mass executions in the restive provinces of Homs and Idlib. The New York-based rights group said it only included cases corroborated by witnesses, but has received more reports of similar incidents. U.N. officials say more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began 13 months ago. Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP. Join the conversation on our social journalism site – Middle East Voices . Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.

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