The UN Security Council has urged the Syrian government to immediately fulfill a promise to withdraw all of its military forces by Tuesday from regions where it has carried out bloody crackdown on antigovernment protesters.

In a “presidential statement” adopted on Thursday, the 15-nation Security Council called on all parties, including the opposition, to cease armed violence within 48 hours and withdraw military forces.

The Security Council statement asked UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to update it on compliance with the timeline and warned that it "will consider further steps as appropriate” if the Syrian government fails to meet the deadline set by Annan.

Annan said the Syrian government has begun pulling out troops from three cities where antigovernment protests have taken place.