U.N. general meets Syrian officials

Major General Robert Mood meets with Syria's deputy foreign minister in Damascus - one day after arriving to head up a U.N. mission to monitor the country's shaky ceasefire.

Mood called for all parties to adhere to the truce brokered by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan and the Arab League, but admitted the mission had a huge task ahead of it.

The meeting took place just as Syrian state TV reported that bomb blasts in Idlib had killed at least eight people, mostly military personnel.

The station broadcast images of buildings turned to rubble and residents crying in the streets.

Meanwhile, four policemen were reportedly shot and wounded in the capital overnight.

The central bank was also targeted on Sunday, with militants firing rocket propelled grenades at the building and security forces.

The U.N. reports that 9,000 people have died in Syria's uprising, which began last March.

Jessica Gray, Reuters