Ahmed Himmiche the Head of the UN observer team denies coming under fire in one of the Damascus suburbs in Syria on Wednesday.

He arrived in a UN car with other officials to be greeted by waiting press

Coming straight from a tour of duty in the Damascus suburb of Arbeen, He walked straight to a bank of eager photographers and journalists, still wearing his combat uniform. Where he reiterated that his mission, is to establish liaison with the Syrian authorities,

A pro-government news website said gunmen threw a grenade at law-enforcement officers in Arbeen during the tour of the UN observers, injuring a brigadier general. However, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said Syrian troops fired at demonstrators in Arbeen when the UN observers were in the area.

The advance team of UN observers have been brought in to monitor the implementation of a cease-fire brokered by Kofi Annan which went into effect last Thursday. This advance team will be followed by other batches of observers and the total number of monitors may eventually reach 250.