France 'Not Optimistic' on U.N. Syria Peace Plan

France is not confident Syrian strongman Bashar Assad will fully implement a ceasefire deal brokered by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan before an April 12 deadline, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday.

"Can we be optimistic? I'm not," Juppe said, when asked by journalists about hopes that Annan's plan might bring an end to the Syrian regime's violent repression of a popular revolt against Assad's rule.

"I think Bashar Assad is cheating us. He is pretending to accept Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan but at the same time he continues to use force," he explained.

Annan said on Monday that Assad had agreed to "immediately" start pulling his troops out of protest cities and complete a troop and heavy weapons withdrawal by April 10.

The pro-government daily al-Watan however quoted a government official as saying Damascus is not bound by any deadline to withdraw its troops from strife-torn areas.