New head of U.N. monitor mission expected in Syria on Sunday April 29, 2012 -- Updated 0823 GMT (1623 HKT) Syrian state-run media: Ban Ki-moon "continues to ignore" violence by "armed gangs" Opposition: At least 700 people have been killed since a cease-fire deadline passed April 12 Syria insists it has met its obligations under Kofi Annan's peace plan; a U.S. official disagrees At least 31 killed in Saturday's violence, an opposition group says (CNN) -- While the death toll in Syria escalates despite the presence of international monitors, the newly-appointed head of the U.N. observer mission is scheduled to arrive in the besieged country Sunday. Maj. Gen. Robert Mood of Norway will begin his work in Syria amid growing doubt that a U.N.-backed peace plan will quash the bloodshed. A key part of the six-point peace plan involves a cessation of violence by the government and opposition members. But since a cease-fire deadline passed on April 12, at least 700 people have been killed, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists. "The plan as a whole is failing thus far," State Department Victoria Nuland said Friday. Obviously, we can all see that it is the Assad regime that is failing to meet its obligations under the six-point plan. But Syrian state media slammed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the slaughter. "The international community continues to ignore the crimes committed by the armed gangs and their terrorist acts, and those who stand behind them in what we consider almost like a direct involvement in facilitating and implementing the terrorist plots against Syria," an editorial in the state-run Tishrin newspaper stated Saturday. ..." We see the example of the Secretary-General of the United Nations recently avoiding any discussion about the violations by these armed groups while he only focuses in an outrageous manner the Syrian state as usual. Syrian Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said armed terrorist groups have committed more than 1,300 violations of the cease-fire, "stressing that Syria has met its obligations" according to the Annan plan, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. At least 31 people were killed across the country Saturday, the coordination committees said. Even though the cease-fire appears to be unraveling, the United Nations is continuing its efforts to field a team to monitor the peace plan with an aim toward forging stability and ending 13 months of bloodshed. Roughly 30 monitors are expected to be on the ground by Monday, and a total of 300 are slated to arrive in the coming month. Syria has been engulfed in violence since March 2011, when the government started cracking down on demonstrators who were peacefully protesting President Bashar al-Assad's regime. CNN's Saad Abedine, Hamdi Alkhshali and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.