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Annan 'Optimistic' After 2nd Meeting With Syria's Assad

VOA News March 11, 2012

International peace envoy Kofi Annan says he is "optimistic" about a resolution of Syria's year-long unrest after a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. But, he says securing a deal to end the violence will be "tough."

Annan says he presented "concrete proposals" to Assad in their meeting on Sunday, the second in two days. The U.N.-Arab League envoy says he called for an immediate stop to killings in Syria and urged the government to "embrace change and reform" as part of a political solution to its deadly crackdown on an opposition uprising.

Annan says he also appealed to President Assad to heed an old African proverb that says: "You cannot turn the wind, so turn the sail." The Syrian government had no immediate comment on the talks.

After the first round of talks on Saturday, Syrian state media said Assad told Annan that he will support what he called an "honest" effort to resolve the conflict. But, Assad also said a political solution is impossible as long as Syria continues to be threatened by "terrorists" whom he blames for the revolt.

Syria's main exiled opposition group also rejected talks with the government. The Syrian National Council said negotiations can never take place between a "victim and torturer" and demanded that Assad and his aides step down before a dialogue can begin.

Syrian rights activists say government forces launched an offensive on rebel strongholds in the northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday, as Annan began his peace mission in Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says fighting on Sunday killed one civilian and three soldiers. Activists said at least 90 people were killed in nationwide unrest a day earlier, many of them in Idlib.

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The top U.S. and Russian diplomats are expected to discuss the Syria crisis on the sidelines of a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Monday.

Washington is pressing the council to adopt a resolution calling on Syria to let aid workers reach civilians affected by the government crackdown. Moscow has vetoed two U.S.-backed Security Council resolutions on the Syrian crisis in recent months, saying they were biased against the Assad government, a Russian ally.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.