The Syrian government has announced to carry out the UN-backed ceasefire deal, the deadline of which falls on Thursday to end 13 months of bloodshed in the violence-stricken country.

The UN special envoy in Syrian issue Kofi Annan said he received a letter from Syria promising to cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 6:00 am local time.

However, Syrian government said it still reserved the rights to counteract against any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups which may threaten civilians, army and public or private properties.

For more details, I earlier spoke to Mr. Hua Liming, Chinese former ambassador to Iran and UAE who will first share with us whether the violence-ravaged nation has already been delivered from the darkness of regional conflicts and how far it has to go on the road to an overall peace.