Washington, Ramadan 29, 1433, Aug 17, 2012, SPA - The U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) will cease operations on August 19, and a smaller political liaison office will be established in its place, France's envoy to the United Nations said Thursday. "The conditions to continue UNSMIS was not fulfilled, but there was also a consensus (in the Security Council) about the need for keeping a U.N. presence in Damascus," French Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters in New York after a meeting of the council to discuss the future of UNSMIS. Araud, who is president of the council for August, said he has sent a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informing him that the members of the council support Ban's proposal to establish the political liaison office in Damascus. Ban sent a letter to the council on August 10 proposing a smaller political liaison office to replace the observer mission. The U.N. deputy undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, Edmund Mulet, said the new office will consist of 20 to 30 people and will include a human rights component, a demining team, and military advisers. UNSMIS was established by the council on April 21 and consisted of some 300 unarmed military observers who were sent to Syria to monitor a ceasefire that never took hold. The observers suspended their activities on June 15 due to escalating violence. --SPA 12:18 LOCAL TIME 09:18 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1023225