An advance team of about a dozen UN observers is ready to enter Syria, where a ceasefire has been "relatively respected" despite government troops and heavy weapons still in cities and continuing abuses, the spokesman for international envoy Kofi Annan said Friday.

The advance team is "standing by to board planes and to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible" once the UN Security Council approves the mission, Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi told a news conference.

Canada will not arm rebels

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says Canada has no interest in arming pro-democracy rebels in Syria if the fragile ceasefire collapses.

Baird said Thursday that Canada is prepared to provide a substantial amount of support on humanitarian fronts, but he doesn't support arming the opposition. He said there is a real concern that the more the opposition is armed, the more brutal and tough the government will be.

Baird said as disgraceful as the conduct of the Assad regime forces have been, they still have plenty of tools in their arsenal that they haven't used. The first goal is to try to end the violence, he said.

— The Canadian Press

Deputy ambassadors met behind closed doors to consider a draft resolution Friday, but Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters the text was longer and more complicated than he expected — and more negotiations would be needed.

The UN Security Council scheduled a vote Saturday on a resolution authorizing the deployment of the UN military observers to monitor the ceasefire. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, the current council president, announced that the council will vote at 11 a.m. ET Saturday

The truce, which formally took effect Thursday, is at the centre of Annan's six-point plan to stop Syria's crackdown on a popular uprising and launch talks on its political future. The uprising in the Arab country began in March 2011 with peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized in response to the crackdown by President Bashar Assad's regime. The fighting has killed an estimated 9,000 people.

In the first major test of the UN-brokered truce, thousands of Syrians poured into the streets Friday for anti-government protests, activists said. Security forces responded by firing in the air and beating some protesters, but there was no immediate sign of widespread shelling, sniper attacks or other potential violations of the ceasefire.

"We hope both sides will sustain this calm, this relative calm," Fawzi said. "We are thankful that there's no heavy shelling, that the number of casualties are dropping, that the number of refugees who are crossing the borders are also dropping."

30 unarmed military observers

Annan has asked the 15-nation Security Council to approve sending a UN observer mission to Syria as soon as possible. The council's draft resolution would authorize an advance element of up to 30 unarmed military observers.

It demands that the Syrian government ensure unimpeded freedom of movement for the observers and the ability to interview anyone they want in private. It also would require that Syrian troops and heavy weapons — which have remained in cities and towns contrary to the government's promises — are withdrawn to their barracks. The resolution would also reiterate a call for unimpeded access for humanitarian workers.

The original draft describes the council as determined to consider "further measures" — which could include sanctions that Syria's allies Russia and China have opposed — if Syria does not follow through on its commitments. Diplomats said this language has since been weakened.

Fawzi said the Syrian government agreed to the deployment of a UN observer mission when it committed to Annan's peace plan. If the council eventually approves an observer mission, Fawzi said an advance team of "around 10 or 12" observers, that could quickly be ratcheted up to 30, would deploy immediately to prepare the way for a full mission. Additional Security Council approval would be required, he said, to put up to 250 observers on the ground.

Troops already in the region from Asian, African and South American countries acceptable to Assad's regime could be used for the mission, Fawzi said.

Fawzi quoted Annan as telling the council during a closed-door briefing Thursday that "the continued presence of Syrian armed forces, including armour, in and around population centres, must end immediately. Violence in all its forms, including arbitrary arrests, torture and abductions, must stop."

Annan's plan also calls for Syria to ensure freedom of movement for journalists. Fawzi said Syria's government provided Annan with a list of 53 journalists who have been given visas to enter the country. Annan got a letter days earlier, Fawzi said, listing 21 organizations with entry visas.

Clashes near border with Turkey

Earlier, activists said Syrian troops clashed with rebels near the border with Turkey on Friday in what appears to be the first serious violation of an internationally brokered ceasefire that went into effect at dawn on Thursday.

Despite the clash, there was still no sign of the widespread shelling, rocket attacks and mortars that were daily occurrences before the ceasefire went into effect.

Uluyol

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes took place on the outskirts of the northwestern village of Khirbet el-Joz that borders Turkey. The group, which has a network of activists throughout Syria, said the army deployed tanks in the area before the clash.

Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, also said that tanks were deployed near Khirbet el-Joz and were trying to storm a post run by the defectors who are known as the Free Syrian Army. The LCC reported "very heavy gunfire."

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said gunshots could be heard from the village of Uluyol in Hatay province, which is across the border from Khirbet el-Joz.