UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The size and sophistication of some recent bomb attacks in Syria suggest that “established terrorist groups” may have been behind them, the U.N. chief said on Friday, in a letter in which he urged states not to supply arms to government or rebel forces.

“The overall situation in Syria remains extremely serious and there has been only small progress on some issues,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in the letter on the 14-month-old conflict between government forces and increasingly militarized opposition.

“There is a continuing crisis on the ground, characterized by regular violence, deteriorating humanitarian conditions, human rights violations and continued political confrontation,” he said in the letter, which was obtained by Reuters.

The U.N. Security Council will discuss Ban’s report and hear a briefing from international mediator Kofi Annan on Wednesday about the situation in Syria. Annan will visit Syria soon to discuss the lack of significant progress in implementing his six-point peace plan.

Earlier this year, Annan brokered a six-point peace plan, which called for an end to violence by all sides, withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from cities, deployment of the monitoring force, and dialogue between the government and opposition aimed at a Syrian-led “political transition.”

Ban’s letter will likely confirm the views of the United States and its allies that the Annan plan is not bringing peace to Syria, largely due to the failure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government to comply with its terms and the increased militarization of the opposition.

Ban said the unarmed U.N. observer force in Syria (UNSMIS), which is being deployed to monitor a cease-fire plan that has yet to take hold, noted that “significant parts of some cities appear to be under the de facto control of opposition elements.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council on Friday imposed a travel ban on five leaders of an April 12 military coup in Guinea-Bissau and threatened an arms embargo and financial sanctions if the tiny West African coastal state does not return to civilian rule.

The 15-member council “demands that the Military Command takes immediate steps to restore and respect constitutional order, including a democratic electoral process, by ensuring that all soldiers return to the barracks, and that members of the ‘Military Command’ relinquish their positions of authority.”

The council unanimously approved a resolution imposing the travel ban on coup leader General Antonio Injai, and Major General Mamadu Ture, General Estevao Na Mena, Brigadier General Ibraima Camara, and Lieutenant colonel Daba Naualna.

The Security Council said it was prepared, as needed, to review the appropriateness of the measures in the resolution “including strengthening through additional measures, such as an embargo on arms and financial measures.”

The travel ban on the Guinea-Bissau military leaders is the first new sanctions regime imposed by the U.N. Security Council since it targeted former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, other Libyan individuals and firms in February 2011.

West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS started deploying a 600-strong military force to Guinea-Bissau on Thursday to oversee reform of the local army and a gradual one-year transition to civilian rule after the coup.

The ECOWAS contingent is intended to replace an Angolan force of similar size that also had been overseeing reform of the army. The coup leaders justified their power grab last month by accusing the Angolans of meddling in local affairs.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Damascus has sent a letter to the United Nations accusing some Lebanese areas of helping al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood to take root along the Syrian border, adding to its criticism of Turkey and Libya for allegedly providing arms to Syrian rebels.

“Some Lebanese areas next to the Syrian border are incubating terrorist elements from al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, who are messing with the security of Syrian citizens and work on undermining the United Nations Special Envoy’s plan,” Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari wrote.

The letter, which was sent to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, was delivered on Thursday and obtained by Reuters on Friday.

“In some areas (of Lebanon) … warehouses have been set up for weapons and ammunition that is arriving to Lebanon illegally, either by sea, or sometimes through using the planes of specific countries to transport weapons to Lebanon and then smuggle them to Syria, under the excuse that they (aircraft) are carrying humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees,” Ja’afari said.

He specifically said charities run by Lebanese Salafists and the Future Movement, led by the son of assassinated statesman Rafik al-Hariri, were being used to provide safe haven to terrorists in Lebanon.

Lebanon has had a complicated relationship with Syria, which continues to exercise some influence over its neighbor despite the 2005 departure of thousands of Syrian troops and intelligence operatives from Lebanese soil.

Last week Ja’afari accused Turkey and Libya arming Syria’s opposition, which forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have tried unsuccessfully for 14 months to crush, killing over 10,000 people in the process, according to the United Nations.