Syria says it will comply with truce deadline

Syria has told Kofi Annan, the special peace envoy of the UN and Arab League, that it will halt all fighting by Thursday morning but reserves the right to respond to any attack by "armed terrorist groups", his spokesman said. In a letter the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Damascus agreed "to cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 6 am (0300 GMT) tomorrow, Thursday," Ahmad Fawzi said. Meanwhile, the central Syrian city of Homs has come under heavy fire, despite the deadline to end the fighting. Kofi Annan is continuing his diplomatic mission. He hass visited Iran, an important regional player, as Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler reports.