I place great hope in the six-point plan of Kofi Annan, which includes the UN mission tasked with monitoring the cease-fire," Kellenberger told the paper. "Unfortunately, I am also very aware that the plan is in danger."
Ongoing clashes has shattered the cease-fire that took effect on April 12 in a conflict that has claimed more than 11,100 lives across the country, mostly civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Since the start of the government crackdown on protests in March last year, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has visited Syria three times, and he met with President Bashar Assad last September.
His third visit was earlier this month aimed at bolstering the ICRC's capacity in the country.
The ICRC, working with the Syrian Red Crescent, has distributed food and other humanitarian aid to some 300,000 people since the crisis erupted, Kellenberger said.
Yesterday, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the UN observer mission in Syria, called on all sides to "stop the violence" upon his arrival in Damascus.
"To achieve the success of the Kofi Annan plan, I call on all sides to stop violence and help us continue the cessation of armed violence," Mood told reporters.
"We will work for the full implementation of the six-point Annan plan which the Syrian government agreed to. To achieve this, we now have 30 monitors on the ground, and in the coming days we will double this figure," he said, adding that the number would "rapidly" increase to 300.
The veteran Norwegian peacekeeper's arrival came as at least eight people were killed in violence across Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A putative truce, which technically came into effect on April 12, has taken a daily battering.
At least eight people were killed in violence in Syria yesterday, including four soldiers who died in a blast at a military centre in the northern province of Aleppo, monitors said.
Two civilians were shot dead by snipers in the district of Juret Al-Shayah of the city of Homs, the symbol of revolt in central Syria and where two UN observers are permanently based, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Observatory said that government forces killed one civilian and wounded three others in the central province of Hama.
Another civilian was killed by regime forces in the central city of Deir Ezzor, where authorities were reportedly conducting raids, the Britain-based Observatory added.
On Saturday, violence across Syria left at least 32 dead, including 22 civilians killed by government forces.
UN observers said yesterday that it was "extremely important" that all sides respect a promised cease-fire in Syria as a veteran peacekeeper flew in to take command after a new day of bloodshed.
A mission spokesman said that an advance party of truce observers had already set up base in the major troublespots in the 13-month conflict.He said it was a "matter of the utmost urgency" for the world body to expand the fledgling mission to the full 300 personnel authorized by the Security Council.
"It is extremely important in the context of our mandate that there is full cessation of violence in all its forms by all the parties," said mission spokesman Neeraj Singh.
"That is the necessary first imperative and that is what we are here to monitor and support."
Singh said that even though the UN mission still only had a small advance team deployed, it was already on the ground in major protest centers that have been at the center of bloodshed the United Nations estimates has killed more than 9,000 people since March last year.
"Even from the advance team that was here until now, as you see, apart from Damascus, we have permanently based observers in Homs, Hama, Daraa and Idlib," he said.
"I think things have been moving as fast as possible. This is a matter of utmost urgency for the UN. All efforts are in place to make sure that we get the people on the ground as quickly as possible."
