There are signs the United Nations-brokered cease-fire in Syria is starting to fray, even as efforts are underway to make sure it holds.

Two activist groups and Turkish villagers reported clashes between Syrian troops and rebel forces near the Turkish border Friday. Some of the fighting was reportedly heavy.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian government deployed tanks to the northwestern village of Khirbel el-Joz before gunfire erupted. Separately, the Local Coordination Committees reported tank movements and heavy gunfire in nearby Khirbet el-Joz.

Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support, a Netherlands-based group, says the fighting is no accident on the part of the Syrian army.

“The Syrian regular army is attempting to finish this situation as soon as possible. And they are trying to finish those people. What we have heard is the Syrian army is moved to looking for those groups.””

The fighting comes as Syria's opposition forces have called for widespread protests to test the Syrian government's resolve to abide by the truce. Hasan says more than a million people are expected to take to the streets as part of those protests.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said the Syrian government has agreed to let an advance team of observers into the country.

Ahmad Fawzi told reporters in Geneva “we have the advance team standing by to board planes and to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible.'' He said he expected the U.N. Security Council the pass the necessary resolution later Friday.

Western nations have been pushing the Security Council to send two waves of observers to Syria to monitor and enforce the cease-fire. A draft resolution calls for Syria to give the observers full and unimpeded freedom of movement across the country. It also demands Syria withdraw troops and heavy weapons from population centers.

The cease-fire went into effect at 6 a.m. local time on Thursday, though rights activists accused the Syrian regime of killing at least three civilians after the cease-fire deadline passed.

Later Thursday, Annan warned the U.N. Security Council that Syria had not fully complied with the terms of the peace plan. Still, Annan said he had been encouraged by reports the cease-fire was holding.

Syrian envoy Bashar Ja'afari Thursday defended President Bashar al-Assad's regime, saying the government had ended attacks and expects opposition militias to do the same. Ja'afari blamed anti-government forces for several violent acts that he said occurred after the cease-fire deadline and said “the moment of truth has come.”

U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a joint statement urging Syria to abide by Annan's plan. But on Friday, Mr. Sarkozy doubted the Syrian president's sincerity, telling a French television station he therefore did not believe the cease-fire would hold.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has said the international community must be united if it is going to keep Syria from descending into “chaos.” Mr. Ban said plans were under way to send observers to Syria. Diplomats said the first U.N. monitors could be dispatched as early as Friday.

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1. (English) JOINT UNITED NATIONS-ARAB LEAGUE SPECIAL ENVOY KOFI ANNAN'S SPOKESPERSON, AHMAD FAWZI, SAYING:

“The Syrian government agrees to the deployment to a

U.N. observer mission. We hope we'll have a Security

Council resolution today, authorizing the deployment of the

advance team. The department of peacekeeping operations is

working round the clock to find the necessary number of

troops for the full observer mission eventually. At the

moment we have the advance team standing by to board planes

and to get themselves on the ground as soon as possible.''

2. (English) JOINT UNITED NATIONS-ARAB LEAGUE SPECIAL ENVOY KOFI ANNAN'S SPOKESPERSON, AHMAD FAWZI, SAYING:

“We are under no illusion here that we have come to the

end of this conflict. This is only the beginning of a long

road towards reconciling and towards building the future

that Syrians aspire to, where there are no detentions

without cause, where law enforcement guarantees peace and

security in the streets – not the military.''

1. (Turkish) VILLAGER GULCAN SALAK SAYING:

“We heard gunfire in the morning and we were afraid. All the villagers were frightened.''

2. (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG SYRIAN REFUGEE SAYING:

“We do not believe in the lies of Assad. We do not think he will silence the guns and set Syrian people free''

Jeff Seldin interview with Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support, a group in the Netherlands affiliated with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saved as “CN Syria – Sipan Hasan interview” in House Shared Friday. The following actualities are saved as “CN Syria – Sipan Hasan 8 acts” in House Shared Friday:

1. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“It was a deployed of military forces with tanks and some personnel carriers and the military of Syria around the village whose called Khirbet el-Joz.”

2. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“We're hearing of some heavy shooting and trying to break the place of armed groups who have been defected from Syrian army.”

3. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“There was very heavy fighting between the Syrian regular army and the defected groups in Khirbet el Joz and until this moment we are still waiting for the result of this fighting. How much have been killed we still don't know.”

4. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“The Syrian regular army is attempting to finish this situation as soon as possible. And they are trying to finish those people. What we have heard is the Syrian army is moved to looking for those groups.”

5. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“They know if they (the Syrian regime) stop the killing people there will be no chance to survive and the regime will go. So that's the most important point in all of this matter. Staying of Syrian regime is connected to the continuing killing of people.”

6. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“We expect a very big demonstration, a very large demonstration. We expects if Syrian authorities stop killing people and stop using tanks and his armed forces, we expects millions of Syrian people will be in the streets.”

7. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“We know the regime never respecting its own promises and what he promises he is never keeping his word.”

8. (English) Sipan Hasan with the Syrian Center for Democracy Support

“Basher al-Assad, everyone has tried him and every one know that this man, he will never keep his word and he will never stop with killing of the Syrian people.”