U.N. Agrees to Send More Cease-Fire Observers to Syria BEIRUT, Lebanon - The battered Syrian city of Homs was calm for the first time in months on Saturday during a visit by an advance team of United Nations cease-fire monitors who had initially been denied government permission to visit. In New York, the Security Council unanimously approved another resolution on Syria, with international frustration growing over the haphazard carrying out of the cease-fire agreement that went into effect on April 12. The resolution reiterated past exhortations to abide by the cease-fire and authorized an expansion in the number of monitors. A resolution last week allowed up to 30 monitors, but Syria's foreign minister has since said it would accept 250 monitors after requests to expand the number. The latest resolution raises that to 300. The United States and other Western powers had sought to give the resolution teeth by threatening sanctions if Syria did not comply, but diplomats said those were removed in a compromise with Russia, one of the strongest backers of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, who has been battling calls for his ouster for more than a year. The compromise version threatens unspecified further measures if Syria fails to implement the peace plan. Homs has been the main exception to the wobbly cease-fire, with videos transmitted from the city by activists showing government forces shelling residential neighborhoods daily. "Thank God, for the first time in weeks Homs is quiet," said Khaled Abu Saleh, an activist reached by Skype. It is because the United Nations inspectors are here of course. The inspectors met the Homs governor and toured the neighborhoods of Baba Amr, al-Zahraa, Zaidal and Fairouza, state-run media reported. Baba Amr was among the neighborhoods most heavily damaged by government shelling. Ahmad Fawzi, the spokesman for Kofi Annan, the special representative of the United Nations and Arab League, confirmed that the inspectors were in Homs but he had no immediate details about their visit. The advance team of fewer than 10 is expected to grow to 30 personnel by next week. The new resolution approved the higher number of monitors, but also mandated that a civilian team help implement the full six-point peace plan. The points in the plan include a political dialogue between the government and the opposition; a cease-fire complete with returning the military to barracks; the release of political prisoners; allowing the distribution of humanitarian aid; permission for independent media from around the world to circulate within Syria and the right for Syrians to demonstrate. The expanded number of observers, from 250 to 300, has yet to be agreed to by Syria, which also balked at the idea that the United Nations would deploy its own, independent helicopters and other planes, saying if the inspectors needed to be flown around the country, they could rely on the Syrian military. Those issues remain unresolved. The new resolution repeats the Security Council's support for the full implementation of the peace plan, including rapid agreement to close outstanding differences. It also called on both sides to respect the cease-fire. In addition, the resolution acknowledged the problem of refugees flowing into neighboring countries and asked the United Nations refugee agency to deal with them, which it is already trying to do. The agency said it was coping with more than 61,000 refugees who have flowed into neighboring countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. At least 230,000 people have been displaced within Syria, by a United Nations count, although activists put the number at about four times that. Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.