Annan: Cease-fire in Syria on track Demonstrators gather during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Kafer Nabel near Adlib April 1, 2012. According to UN estimations, the year-long onslaught of the Syrian regime has so far killed more than 8000 people in the country. WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- The cease-fire in Syria shows some small signs of success and appears to be on track, a spokesman for U.N. Special Envoy Kofi Annan said Friday. Ahmad Fawzi acknowledged continuing violence in the country since the cease-fire took effect, the United Nations said in a statement. Annan, former U.N. secretary-general, represents both that organization and the Arab League. But Annan says the government of President Bashar Assad has removed heavy artillery from some areas. The Annan peace plan is on track, and a crisis that has going on for over a year is not going to be resolved in a day or a week. Sadly, time is a luxury that we don't have, but realistically it's going to take a little more time to pull all the strings together," Fawzi said. There are days when things are progressing in a satisfactory manner and there are day where we feel that things are so difficult that we need a lot of patience and perseverance to see the day through. We are horrified by the extent of violence that we see on the ground. Syrian activists said at least 37 people were killed Friday by government forces firing on protesters or after being arrested, CNN reported. Three in Idlib who were detained earlier this week appeared to have been tortured, rebels said. A spokesman for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was more pessimistic than Annan. It said it closed the student dormitories Syrian forces stormed overnight Wednesday into Thursday, firing tear gas and then live ammunition, and arresting scores of people, after some 1,500 students protested against Assad's regime.