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Annan Concludes Approach to End Violence with Syrian President

DAMASCUS, June 9, 2012, (Xinhua) --

The visiting international envoy Kofi Annan said Monday he has concluded an approach with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad regarding ending the violence, adding that the approach will be also shared with the armed opposition.

Annan, who flew in Sunday afternoon, met Monday with president Assad. He regarded his discussions with embattled leader as "constructive."

"We discussed the need to end the violence and ways and means of doing so and we agreed on an approach, which I will share with the armed opposition," Annan told reporters in Damascus after meeting Assad.

Annan, however, stopped short of specifying the details of the new approach, but stressed the importance of pressing ahead with the political dialogue.

He said the six-point peace plan should be implemented in a " better fashion."

He called on all influential countries to help in serving the new approach to end the 16-months unrest.

Annan recently offered a few suggestions on how to salvage the peace plan in an interview with Guardian, saying that Iran has a role to play in resolving the crisis, a suggestion rejected by the U.S. and its western allies.

Sources told Xinhua anonymously that Annan will head Monday afternoon to Iran to meet with officials there.

The latest Middle Eastern leg of Annan's tour is apparently meant to serve his latest suggestion, inviting Iran to join the efforts to resolve the 16-month-old unrest.

It is not immediately clear what Annan wants Tehran to do regarding the Syrian situation, but the move came after he expressed discontent with the international wrangling on the Syrian issue.

In his interview with French daily Le Monde on Saturday, Annan said the international community's efforts to bring the 16-months unrest in Syria to an end politically have failed. "The evidence shows that we have not succeeded."

He noted that the divisions between regional and world powers over how to resolve the Syrian issue are making the situation worse.

He also told Guardian that Syria will face a spreading civil war unless Russia, the West and the Arab states end their " destructive competition" over the Syrian issue.

"Russia does have influence and can encourage the Syrian government to implement fully the six-point plan and Security Council resolutions. But this task cannot be left to the Russians alone. I expect Iran to play a role. Those governments -- the U.S. and the Friends of Syria -- that have influence with the opposition should also play a role. If they continue with this destructive competition, everyone will lose," Annan told Guardian.

"They (the West) accuse the Russians of arming the (Syrian) government. The Russians accuse them of arming the opposition and flooding the place with weapons. This is instead of coming together to see what can be done," he said.

The intractable crisis in Syria has recently careened toward a sectarian conflict between the majority Sunni and the Alawati sect, to which Assad and the ruling elite belong. Such sectarian conflict has long been seen in the restive provinces of Idlib and Homs, while in the capital, assassinations and killings suggest the same momentum.

Syrian analysts deem Annan's new peace approach " methodology" to end protracted crisis

DAMASCUS, June 9, 2012 (Xinhua) --

Some Syrian political experts deemed the approach concluded Monday between international envoy Kofi Annan and the Syrian leadership as "specific methodology" that includes new suggestions to lead eventually to a national political dialogue.

Annan, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy, said he concluded an "approach" with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Monday regarding ending the violence, adding that the approach will also be shared with the armed opposition.

Annan, who arrived in Syria Sunday afternoon, saw his discussions with the embattled Syrian leader as "constructive."

"We discussed the need to end the violence and ways and means of doing so and we agreed on an approach, which I will share with the armed opposition," Annan told reporters in Damascus after meeting Assad.

Annan, however, stopped short of specifying the details of the new approach. But he stressed the importance of pressing ahead with the political dialogue.

Hamdi al-Abullah, a Syrian political expert, told Xinhua in a phone interview that the new approach is better called as a " methodology" that includes suggestions.

He said the new suggestions include asking the armed opposition to lay down weapons first and in turn the Syrian government would not go after them under the guarantee of the UN supervision mission in order to commence a national dialogue.

The armed opposition will not only be indulged with the dialogue but also in the entire political process, he said.

Hamdi, however, said the next weeks will determine whether there is a possibility for applying such methodology.

In his Monday's remarks, Annan called on all influential countries to help in serving the new approach to end the 16-month unrest.

Annan recently offered a few suggestions on how to salvage the peace plan in an interview with Guardian, saying that Iran has a role to play in resolving the crisis, a suggestion rejected by the United States and its Western allies.

Sources told Xinhua anonymously that Annan headed Monday afternoon to Iran to meet with officials there, which is apparently meant to serve his latest suggestion of inviting Iran to join the efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.

Commenting on Iran's role in the Syrian crisis, Hamdi said Iran, with its strong relations with the Syrian government and some of the opposition factions that refuse the concept of foreign intervention in Syria, could play an important role in the efforts to end the violence.

George Gabbour, another Syrian expert and an ex-parliamentarian, told Xinhua that the hardest part of the new efforts for Syria is halting the violence in order to start a dialogue and ignite the political process.

After the Annan-Assad meeting, the Syrian administration stressed its commitment to the Annan peace plane, state media reported, saying that the plan's prospect depends largely on halting international support to armed opposition.

The official SANA news agency said the success of Annan's plan largely relies on halting financial and arm supply to the armed groups on ground, as well as a true commitment and desire by the international community toward ending the Syrian crisis.

Observers believe that Annan wants to indulge Tehran after he expressed discontent with the international wrangling on the Syrian issue.

Annan said Saturday during an interview with French daily Le Monde that the international community's efforts to bring the 16- months unrest in Syria to an end politically have failed.

"The evidence shows that we have not succeeded," he said.

He noted that the divisions between regional and world powers over how to resolve the Syrian issue were making the situation worse.

Annan has recently said Syria will face a spreading civil war unless Russia, the West and Arab states end their "destructive competition" over the country.

The intractable crisis in Syria has recently careened toward a sectarian conflict between the majority Sunni and the Alawati sect, to which Assad and the ruling elite belong. Such sectarian conflict has long been seen in the restive provinces of Idlib and Homs, while in the capital, assassinations and killings suggest the same momentum.

The Syrian troops clashed Monday with armed groups in Darat Izzeh area just outside the northern city of Aleppo and Ariha suburb of northern Idlib province, inflicting "severe losses" among the armed elements, SANA said.

SANA said the competent authorities in Idlib foiled on Monday an infiltration attempt by an armed terrorist group across the Syrian-Turkish borders at Ein al-Bayda-Bakseria site.

On the opposition side, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights placed the death toll of Syria's 16-months unrest at 17,129 people, 11,897 of whom were civilians, 4,348 soldiers and 884 army deserters.

There has been no independent confirmation of the activists' accounts.

The United Nations said at least 9,000 Syrians were killed in the months-long unrest that started in March 2011.

The protracted violence in Syria has also forced 103,000 of its citizens to seek refuge in neighboring Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, the UN humanitarian affairs agency said Friday.